Tax plans: Dutch coalition is on the brink of collapse

Dusseldorf. The Dutch government could collapse on Thursday in a dispute over a tax law. The conservative coalition party VVD accused the other two partners in the minority coalition of breaking agreements. The reason: D66, Rob Jetten's left-liberal party, and the Christian Democratic CDA, together with several left-wing parties, want to increase the tax on income from assets and in return reduce deductions for people with low incomes.

But the VVD will not support this plan, announced party leader Dilan Yesilgöz and parliamentary group leader Ruben Brekelmans. They called for a “fundamental reset” of the three-party coalition.

This means that Jetten's government, which has only been in office for nine months, is on the verge of collapse. For months, the coalition unsuccessfully negotiated the traditional annual tax package with the opposition. The VVD wants to work with the extreme right-wing parties. However, D66 and CDA agreed on a compromise with the left opposition.

Prime Minister Jetten was only expected to speak later in parliament. Because of the crisis, he canceled his trip to the European Political Community summit in Dublin. The vote on the tax proposal is scheduled for Thursday evening. An adjournment or another solution is also considered conceivable.

The coalition had a difficult time from the start in the very fragmented parliament in The Hague due to a lack of majorities. There are 16 parties represented there alone, some with only one or two mandates, which makes negotiations particularly complicated.