Lots of people get a very pleasant surprise after filing their ‘M’ form
By Thomas Ansell
Everyone in the Netherlands has to file a tax return every year; and you must submit this by May 1 at the very latest. However, if it’s your first year in the Netherlands, or indeed the first year that you’ve been employed here, then the rules are a little different. The major difference is having to fill out the dreaded ‘M’ form. It’s somewhere between the size of a magazine and a phone book, but don’t let that put you off: most of the time people need only fill in about 5 pages.
Aside from it being a legal obligation, the major reason to fill out the ‘M’ form is that unless you started working on January 1, you’re likely to be in line for a tax-rebate!
Official information is available via the Belastingdienst’s website. The ‘M’ form is only available as the aforementioned paper book, but after your first year most Dutch people simply fill in their tax return online.
A number of organisations run tax webinars and presentations for free to help you with your tax returns; the IWCN for example regularly runs tax workshops (check their calendar here for more information). There are of course also a wide variety of tax specialists that can help; for a fee.
Image via Pexels.
