The ‘dark side’ of the Netherlands

The Netherlands might have a reputation as a tolerant, coolheaded and cosy little country. But in fact there is a very dark side to it: the Netherlands is a tax haven. A staggering 4 trillion euros are funnelled through the country yearly by 12,000 mailbox companies, which hardly pay any taxes.

SOMO has now developed an explanatory infographic that shows at a glance both the magnitude of this complex problem and the possible ways to address it. The graphic also clarifies in the finest detail why the Netherlands should not welcome all these letterbox companies and what governments must do to tackle tax avoidance.

SOMO hopes the infographic will allow us citizens to rally against all those international corporations that engage in large-scale tax-avoidance unhampered. So let’s call on politicians to address tax-avoidance by creating more transparency, demanding more stringent requirements from companies and striving for a fair tax system.

And this can be achieved faster than you would suspect, because European Elections will be held on the 22nd of May. At fairpolitics.nl/fairkiezingswijzer(opens in new window) you will see precisely which Dutch parties want to change the tax system and how they propose to do so.

You can also take action before that time. Call on a multinational to pay fair taxes through(opens in new window) or sign the Fair Tax petition(opens in new window) .

References
The document ‘End harmful tax regimes’ contains all references and data used for the infographic ‘The Netherlands: a tax haven (but only for multinationals)’.