No sign of breakthrough as deadline looms on Dutch tax plans

The Dutch government is running out of time to find a majority in parliament for its tax programme for next year, with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations with opposition parties.

Prime minister Rob Jetten has repeatedly said he wants to secure a broad agreement with concessions on the left and right, but the two sides’ demands are proving irreconcilable.

Junior finance minister Eelco Eerenberg, who is responsible for the tax plans, called on MPs to “look with a clear head and a new day at what is on the table”, at the end of a debate that brought the parties no closer to ending the deadlock.

The minority coalition of D66, CDA and VVD need to find 10 votes in the lower house and 17 votes in the Senate from at least two opposition parties to pass their legislation.

The parties have until 2pm on Wednesday to table fresh amendments, after which the tax plans will go to a vote in the lower house, which is scheduled for Thursday. The Senate is due to vote in December.

The left-wing Pro, who have teamed up the pro-European liberal minor party Volt, are pressing the cabinet to raise another €1.5 billion in taxes on people with high levels of assets and savings to fund tax cuts for working people.

But the move is being blocked by the right-wing liberal VVD, who favour doing a deal instead with a right-wing block of JA21, the farmers’ party BBB and the orthodox Protestant SGP.

Split vote

The coalition parties have not ruled out splitting their vote on Pro’s amendement, an unprecedented move that would allow D66, CDA and Pro to pass the measure with support from other opposition groups while the VVD vote against.

The tax service has warned that if the plans are not passed before November 20 it will not be able to include the new rates in next year’s tax demands, meaning millions of taxpayers will be sent incorrect bills that have to be adjusted later.

Employers’ payslips will also be calculated on the basis of the 2026 rates for at least the first quarter.

With the prospect of a cabinet collapse looming, MPs backed a motion on Tuesday requiring parliament to explore alternative combinations before resorting to fresh elections.

The motion, tabled by the Christian parties ChristenUnie, SGP and CDA, would change the parliament’s procedural rules, to say MPs “will consult on a new formation” after a cabinet resigns rather than “can consult”.

Only one of the last seven Dutch governments has lasted the full term and a general election in March 2027, the earliest it could be held, would be the third in less than three and a half years.