Some 97,000 companies which were allowed to delay paying tax or were given other state support during the coronavirus crisis are not keeping up their repayments, and 60,000 of them have not paid off any of their debt, tax minister Marnix van Rij has told MPs in a briefing.

Together, the companies owe the state €16.5 billion, the junior minister said.

In March, 103,000 companies were in arrears and 73,000 had repaid nothing. Since then, the government has sent out reminders, telling companies what they owe. Just over half the companies which have paid off nothing owe less than €10,000.

The tax department will start making moves to recover its debt in June, after which the government will begin recovering support which it is owed, Van Rij said.

Last October, 266,000 companies began making repayments, which can be planned in over up to seven years if necessary. So far, 10% of companies have paid off all their debts.

Van Rij said officials estimate that €2.5 billion of the debt will never be recovered.