In Search of Simplicity: Tax Reform in The Netherlands

Abstract: There is a broad understanding that simplifying tax laws is very important, but attempts to do so in The Netherlands seem to get bogged down in new levels of complexity. So the question is: how can simplification be achieved and maintained? In this article, the author offers a number of touchstones for clarifying and measuring tax complexity and simplicity. He discusses a number of indicators for the complexity of tax laws and analyses developments in the Dutch income tax and corporation tax with a tangible complexity indicator. He also analyses the use of indicators in two tax reforms in The Netherlands.

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