The treasury is missing out on billions of euros in lost tax income a year because constant reorganisations have left staff unable to do their jobs properly, according to trade union Abvakabo.

An investment of a few hundred millions euros could generate an extra €4bn for the government, the union says. It bases its claims on interviews with tax office staff who are ‘too scared of losing their jobs’ to go public, website nu.nl says.
The union says the tax office has been in the middle of reorganisations since 1989 and points out a further €400m is being cut from the budget over the next few years. The workforce is also being reduced by 3,000 to 26,000.
The increase in workload and shrinking staff means fraud is becoming more difficult to detect. Companies are now given an audit once in 43 years while private individuals have a one in 100 year chance of being audited, the union claims.
This has led to an increase in abuse, such as giving tax-free gifts to non-existent children and mortgage tax relief to tenants. In addition, small tax debts are no longer being chased up.