Until at least the end of 2023, the operating conditions of companies with debts on two types of taxes – corporate and at the source (conditional withholding tax) – will remain at the same level.
The conditions also remain unchanged in matters relating to tax refunds. So the business will be able to prepare in advance for future innovations and minimize possible negative consequences.
Earlier, the country announced an increase in the interest rate to 10.5% from March 1, 2023. Almost 4 months have passed since that moment, but official clarifications on further interest rate prospects followed only on June 26, 2023.
The reason for the possible changes is the increase in the refinancing rate set by the financial regulator of the European Union (ECB), up to 2.5%. Under these conditions, an increase in interest on overdue tax payments would be quite logical. But in the Netherlands, they still decided to keep the rate at the same level.
The country’s government says that a prerequisite for any changes in this matter are appropriate adjustments to fiscal legislation regarding the legal definition of the concept of “interest rate”. This is expected to happen no earlier than January 2024.
Keeping the interest rate at the old level does not affect all mandatory fees in the Netherlands. For other types of taxes, it has already increased from 4% to 6% on July 1, 2023. Whether the interest rate will rise again, there is no official information yet.