Local councils must not put up taxes on industry to compensate for cuts in government funding, prime minister Mark Rutte said at a small business conference on Monday.

Rutte said he is aware industry is worried about the consequences of the government’s decision to slash spending by €18bn up to 2015.
But business should not be presented with the bill by local councils putting up local taxes, Rutte said
And if this is the case, Rutte said he would take issue with them. ‘To foster entrepreneurship it is important that taxes remain low,’ news agency ANP quoted Rutte as saying.
Nevertheless, it is too early to say if the government will intervene to keep local taxes down, the prime minister said.
Monitor
The small and medium sized business lobby group MKB Nederland has set up a special monitor to keep watch on progress in six areas which influence the business climate.
These include bureaucracy and access to finance as well as local authority taxes. The index will report every three months from 2011.
MKB leader Loek Hermans said there is some evidence that local taxes are already being increased.