Finance minister Wouter Bos is not opposed to the introduction of a universal tax rate for all private individuals, tv channel RTLZ reports on Wednesday.

The introduction of a 37% flat rate for income tax was first mooted by a Christian Democrat party think-tank at the beginning of this week. The Netherlands currently has four separate income tax bands and top tax rate of 52% on income over €54,000.
Bos pointed out that the flat tax system has been discussed and investigated several times over the years and had been shown to have a seriously negative effect on low income households. ‘But let them come with plans which have been worked out and I will look at them,’ Bos said.
Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Tuesday that the idea of a fixed tax rate was ‘extremely interesting’ but also required a lot of working out.