Peter Kavelaars, Professor of Economics of taxation at Erasmus School of Economics, was a guest at the Dutch radio station BNR Nieuwsradio on Monday 23 December 2019. Savers received so little interest on their savings in 2015 that the savings tax in that year contrary is to European law, reports Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf based on an unpublished judgment of the Court of Appeal in The Hague. The ruling increases pressure on the state to pay compensation.
Normally speaking, we may assume a return of 4% on our savings but didn’t even reach a return of 1% in 2015. The Court of the Hague’s ruling is striking but has not yet been published. Normally it's up to the legislator to intervene. However, the court does not want to wait for this to happen, which means that if the Supreme Court goes along with the decision of the court, it will result in restitution. The tax is then contrary to European law, leading to a restitution to any person who has objected to it.
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Listen to the entire item on BNR Nieuwsradio, 23 December 2019 (in Dutch).