The extra tax which everyone in the Netherlands has to pay over their savings and other assets is arbitrary, the advocate general of the Dutch supreme court said on Tuesday.

The top advisor to the court said the current system conflicts with the basic principle of the Dutch tax system, which is based on individuality, because ‘people who book very different results on their investments pay the same tax’.

In addition, the asset tax was introduced at the end of the 1990s during a period of major economic growth, the advocate general pointed out.

Guess

At the moment, households pay 30% tax on the assumption their assets have booked a return of 4% over the year, but in practise this is much lower. Experts estimate the average return over the past five years to be 2.4%.

The advice of the advocate general is usually followed by the supreme court. It is currently considering the case of a Dutchman who emigrated to Norway and disputes a tax bill for property he still owns in the Netherlands.