Recently, Peter Kavelaars, Professor of Economics of Taxation at Erasmus School of Economics, was asked for his expertise on the scaling back of the gift deduction in a column in Het Algemeen Dagblad. In 2023, the tax authorities received 447 million euros less because of this deduction.
Last March, an SEO study concluded that the current gift deduction is inefficient. With the government's current plan, the scaling back of the deduction in the form of a lower deduction, almost the same amount still goes to charities but costs the government significantly less. In principle, therefore, the disadvantages of scaling down the gift deduction do not seem to outweigh the benefits.
However, Kavelaars would not be surprised if the austerity does not go ahead after all: ‘The charity lobby is very strong and influential in The Hague. And of course it sounds very unsympathetic: the cabinet wants to cut back on giving to charities.' Yet the professor himself is more in favour of austerity: ‘abolish that regulation! Surely you give because you care about a cause? The tax authorities are not happy with it either, because abuse is difficult to control, as is implementation. And: everyone wants a simpler tax system with fewer deductions, but this should stay?'
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You can download the full article from Het Algemeen Dagblad, 7 September 2024, above.