The House of Representatives wants to discuss a revised plan by outgoing Secretary of State Van Rij for a new savings tax in the near future. This is despite the government being out of office and Van Rij warned that it is not easy. This was evident today in the debate surrounding the much-discussed new tax on savings, investments and real estate. The goal now is for the plans to come into effect in 2027.

Last September, Van Rij told the House of Representatives that the introduction of the new system had been delayed again. The plan was to impose a tax on the actual return on savings and investments in Framework 3 from 2026, but this turned out to be not possible. The implementation date had previously been postponed from 2025 to 2026. Van Rij warned last month of further delay.

But the parties in the room want Van Rij to do everything he can to keep going. Christian Union MP Grenouis: “If we can’t reach an agreement now, what will we do? I don’t think we will get a smarter Secretary of State.” In order to achieve implementation by 2027, Van Rij wants to introduce a revised bill before the summer.

For people who have a second home, one of the expected adjustments will be less good news. It turns out that it is practically impossible to distinguish them from investors who own several properties. Therefore a low rate of people having a second home seems unlikely.

Excluding shareholders in family businesses also seems impossible. The House of Representatives wanted to regulate this for fear that companies would get into trouble because of the new rules. But this appears to contravene European rules on state aid.

After the Supreme Court ruled that the savings tax was against the law, Van Rij devised a temporary wealth tax in order to allow some money to enter the state treasury via Block 3. But this system was also challenged in court. A new ruling from the Supreme Court is expected at the end of August. Until then, tax assessments continue for hundreds of thousands of citizens since 2021. Tax authorities have hired hundreds of additional people for this and other repair work.

The fact that the modernization of ICT systems in tax authorities has also been delayed has not helped this process, according to van Rij. He admits that he has never heard anyone say today that the Savings Tax Plan is “awesome and got an A+ from the teacher”. However, he is also glad that he did not hear anyone say, “Stop this trade.”

For the law to enter into force in 2027, the law must be discussed by both the House and Senate in 2025. Van Rij will therefore quickly start working on the amendments and technical details and wants to return to Parliament with a new message in mid-May.