Disclosure of information by the tax authorities 

Exemption from the obligation to secrecy under Dutch privacy law

As a result of technological and social developments, government tasks now give rise to more extensive and complex data traffic. Key issues in this context are fraud prevention, increased efficiency, monitoring and tracing - all with a pro-active approach. The combined effect of these developments, however, is liable to give the citizen the growing feeling of being 'tracked' by the authorities.

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In the midst of these developments, the tax authorities receive more and more requests from organizations wishing to access their wealth of fiscal information, and they feel an obligation to respond to these requests within the applicable legal framework. In doing so they must consider the interests which the law governing fiscal secrecy serves to protect. The obligation to fiscal secrecy must be able to justify the tax authorities' extensive powers to gather information. Should this obligation fail to assure the public that disclosed data are not being used for other purposes, this will have consequences on the willingness of tax subjects to provide information. It is precisely this willingness that the Dutch tax authorities wish to promote with their compliance strategy, which emphasizes a convincing and customer-friendly approach. In theory, such a lack of willingness could result in the tax authorities being forced to implement even more severe measures to obtain the personal information they need, which in turn could further restrict the individual's personal privacy.

Citation
Zeeuw, J. de, Informatieverstrekking door de fiscus. Ontheffing van de geheimhoudingsplicht in het licht van privacywetgeving [Disclosure of information by the tax authorities. Exemption from the obligation to secrecy under Dutch privacy law] Dutch DPA, December 1999. Backgroundstudies & Investigations 16.