Tax Litigation

This specialisation includes providing counsel for current and potential tax and tax-related disputes. We represent both businesses and private individuals. We devote special attention to the legal position of accountants and tax advisors. These disputes may result in proceedings before the criminal or civil courts, or before an administrative law court.

While these cases are being processed, we are vigilant in identifying opportunities for resolving the dispute through settlement. If so desired, we can assist you in consultation with your accountant and/or tax advisor. Our primary interest in every case is safeguarding our clients’ interests. The type of assistance we provide differs according to the nature of the case and our clients’ needs, viewed from the perspective of an optimal representation strategy, ranging from handling a case from start to finish providing an internal opinion on the next part of an approach. This section does not complete tax returns or provide tax advice.

The following categories of services are offered at a specialised level:

1. Tax disputes and the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration [Belastingdienst]:
   1. Assistance with assessment rules
   2. Assistance with audits, including tax audits, including the scope of a client’s obligation to provide tax-related information, also in an international context
   3. Procedural tax law: handling objection or appeal proceedings
   4. Defending clients against administrative penalties, whether the clients are taxpayers/withholding agents or tax advisors/accountants
   5. Voluntary disclosure cases (including those dealing with aspects of the Dutch Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and of Terrorist Financing [Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren terrorisme]
2. Liability issues:
   1. Assertions of liability made by the tax collector for the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, including those relating to recipient, vicarious and directors’ and officers’ liability
   2. Assertions of liability by current or former clients: legal assistance for accountants/tax advisors who are facing actual or imminent assertions of liability by current or former clients
   3. Liability to disciplinary action: professional practitioners such as accountants and tax advisors also run the risk of being held liable to disciplinary action for their acts or negligence
3.  Assistance for those subject to criminal and administrative-law prosecution:
   1. Proactive approach (putting one’s position into a legal framework) and preparing for prosecution
   2. Risk analysis of the position of the taxpayer/withholding agent and its accountant and/or tax advisor
   3. Assistance with searches, witness testimony and hearings, detention on remand
   4. Harmonisation with other tax or other proceedings
   5. Criminal proceedings
4. In-house counsel
   1. Accounting and tax advisory firms are sometimes too small to be able to maintain a litigation department or a team of experts who have sufficient skill and experience to assist them with issues in the aforementioned areas of law. The tax litigation section may offer a ready-made solution for such firms by filling that gap in knowledge and experience with in-house assistance with issues in these areas of law. Agreements can be made that tailor the services to be rendered to the firms’ needs; these may range from serving as a source of answers to questions to assessing a litigation position (including assessing draft notices of objection and appeal) to providing in-house courses and training employees.