An investigation by the Dutch Data Protection Authority has been launched regarding ethnic profiling in the Tax office regarding fraud detection. The Tax Authority had data containing the second nationality of parents and have been accused of using it to determine whether their childcare allowance would be discontinued or not. This report was then concluded by Trouw and RTL Nieuws.
Violation from the tax authority
According to RTL Nieuws, investigations into childminders and their agencies were based on ‘risk selection’ and now the Dutch Date Protection Authority thinks that the Tax Authorities have used the nationality of childminders to keep ‘extra checks’ on them. Of course, this is unacceptable and a complete violation. They originally denied this claim, but according to NOS, they have since stated that this information “can be used to check whether a parent has Dutch nationality or has a residence status.” However, since 2015 it only says whether they are Dutch or not.
Hundreds of parents were affected
According to NOS, 230 families ended up in financial difficulty due to stopping the allowance in which they were forced to pay back. The tax authorities jumped on the bandwagon when they suspected fraud – but years later only 27 cases were found to actually be fraud, out of the hundreds that were affected.
According to NOS, once the allowances were stopped, 400 appeals were filed which led nowhere as the Tax Authorities did not inform them what forms and documentation was missing.
