Older Dutch couple pretend to live in Switzerland for years: €1m fine | abroad

In total, the Dutch treasury would have lost about 1.2 million euros between 2013 and 2016 due to the couple’s fraud. This money has now been paid. With a fine of one million euros, a lawsuit was prevented.

Jail time is usually a common occurrence in such massive tax evasion. But given the age between them, it’s omitted here. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) in the Netherlands does not answer questions about the age of the two.

The Eindhoven case came to the fore in a joint investigation by the Tax and Customs Administration, FIOD and the Public Prosecution Service. It is about Dutch people who have a lot of assets abroad, such as real estate or money in foreign accounts, but do not report it to the tax authorities. The Dutch Treasury is losing capital due to tax evasion.

During the investigation, tax authorities monitored who often paid with foreign banks or credit cards. Then it was examined whether such persons were obligated to pay taxes in the Netherlands. Finally, during the tax return, it is checked if the concerned persons have mentioned anything about overseas assets. Once that was not the case, FIOD opened an investigation.

One of the cases in which an investigation was opened was the Eindhoven couple. Often, so much money was withdrawn from the Swiss account that the husband and wife had to spend most of the year in the Netherlands. The investigation showed that the couple had to pay taxes in the Netherlands – and therefore not in Switzerland, as the duo claimed.

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