Jetten backpedals on plans to tax the royals

Prime minister Rob Jetten is refusing to act on calls for the royal family to pay taxes, despite his party D66 having actively backed the idea for years.

The Dutch royals receive personal salaries, which is only a fraction of their overall wealth, and plans to tax them on their incomes have been debated by parliament for more than a decade.

The king, for example, will receive roughly €7.5 million from the state next year, of which €1.2 million is personal income and the rest covers staff and running costs. He pays no tax on it. In January 2024 D66 tabled a motion calling on the government to change the constitution so that the royals would pay income tax.

For the first time in history, the motion got two-thirds parliamentary support, with over 100 MPs backing it. But the successive prime ministers Mark Rutte and Dick Schoof both refused to push the plan forward.

Last December D66 also voted for a similar motion by GroenLinks-PvdA (Pro) MP Laura Bromet, asking that royals who receive an allowance pay the same taxes as everyone else.

Now Jetten appears to be doing the same. He told MPs on Wednesday that the yearly debate had become an “unproductive dynamic” and that he wants a broader review of a “future-proof monarchy” instead.

He promised the Christian Democrats (CDA) that it would not lead to a ceremonial monarchy. Ending the exemption would also require a change to the constitution, which exempts the king from tax on his allowance.

Opposition parties are furious at his backpedalling on the issue. “D66 was angry every year that the motions were not implemented. Now the party has a unique opportunity to reflect on the future of the monarchy,” Socialist (SP) MP Sandra Beckerman told NOS. “You would think that you would seize that opportunity.”

Dutch republican group Republiek, which campaigns for the abolition of the monarchy, wrote an open letter to Jetten saying “a large majority of the population indicates time and again in polls that they are in favour of the king paying taxes.”

“For twelve years now, there has been a majority in the House of Representatives in favour of abolishing the tax exemption for the royal family. Time and again, the plans failed during the implementation by the prime ministers. But now you are our prime minister.”

The letter is signed off using the campaign slogan D66 used to come to power in the current coalition: “In your own words: het kan wel” (it’s possible).

MPs will soon vote on a motion from Bromet backing Jetten’s review, and one from Beckerman telling the cabinet to act on the royal tax motions parliament has already passed.