This ministry contains 5 sections.
Services and institutions
The following services and institutions fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.
Dutch Tax Administration
The most well-known task of the Tax Administration is the levying and collecting of taxes and social insurance premiums. Annually, the Tax Administration processes the individual tax returns of 6 million private persons and 1.1 million entrepreneurs. The Tax Administration not only collects taxes, but also pays out tax refunds. The Tax Administration is responsible, for instance, for paying out provisional refunds. Other important tasks are:
• detecting tax fraud;
• overseeing the import, export and transit of goods;
• overseeing compliance with the tax laws and regulations.
Customs
Every day, millions of tons of goods enter and leave the Netherlands: by land, sea and air. The Dutch Customs Administration performs checks and inspections on this movement of goods. The Customs Administration is responsible for levying duties on imports and for implementing a large number of embargos, restrictions and inspection measures.
Benefits
The Tax Administration/Benefits is responsible for implementing income-linked schemes (benefits). Personal households can receive benefits to cover the costs of child care, rent or healthcare. More than 6 million households currently receive a benefit. The Tax Administration/Benefits implements the following income-linked benefit schemes:
• childcare benefit;
• child-linked budget;
• rent benefit;
• care benefit.
Dutch State Treasury Agency
The Dutch State Treasury Agency (DSTA) of the Ministry of Finance is responsible for the funding and management of the Dutch national debt, for the policy governing and the implementation of treasury banking and for the national government’s money transfers. The DSTA combines the internal and external treasury function of the national government. For more information, please visit
www.dsta.nl/english
Domeinen roerende zaken (state-owned moveable property)
Domeinen Roerende Zaken (DRZ) represents the national government as the owner of moveable property. DRZ destroys, preserves or sells goods that are confiscated by the police or other official detection agencies. DRZ also works closely with government-wide category management in respect of the disposal of surplus government-owned goods.
Rijksacademie voor Financiën en Economie (National Academy for Finance and Economics)
The National Academy for Finance and Economics is a training institute that works towards improving the financial operations of the national government. The National Academy provides knowledge and skills in the areas of auditing, financial management and economics. It does this, for instance, by organising training programmes and by holding congresses.
Rijksauditdienst (National Audit Office)
The National Audit Office conducts the accountants audit within the government, provides audits on request and promotes cooperation between the different departments in the area of governmental auditing.
Real property
The Ministry of Finance has two offices that are focused on real property: the Raad voor Vastgoed Rijksoverheid or RVR (Government Real Property Council) and the Rijksvastgoed- en ontwikkelingsbedrijf or RVOB (State Property and Development Agency)
• The ROVB manages, (re)develops, buys and sells land and buildings owned by the national government. The RVOB is also the development agency that works on behalf of the ministries to realise complex regional development projects in which the national government has an important role to play. The RVOB was created by the merger of Domeinen Onroerende Zaken (Ministry of Finance) and the Gemeenschappelijk Ontwikkelingsbedrijf or GOB (Joint Property Development Agency).
• The Raad voor Vastgoed Rijksoverheid (Government Real Property Council –RVR) is a cooperative venture of government agencies focused on the purchasing, sale, development and management of government-owned real property. The RVR ensures the cooperation and exchange of knowledge between these agencies is intensified.
The following eight government agencies collaborate in the RVR:
• Centraal orgaan opvang asielzoekers (central agency for sheltering asylum seekers)
• Dienst Vastgoed Defensie (property management agency for Ministry of Defence)
• Dienst Landelijk Gebied (Government Service for Land and Water Management)
• ProRail B.V.
• Rijksgebouwendienst (BZK) [Government Buildings Agency]
• Rijksvastgoed- en ontwikkelingsbedrijf (Ministry of Finance) [State Property and Development Agency]
• Rijkswaterstaat (the executive arm of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment)
• Staatsbosbeheer (Dutch Forestry Commission)
Together with an independent chairman and a secretary, the directors of these agencies form the Raad voor Vastgoed Rijksoverheid (Government Real Property Council).
Wiser in Money Matters Platform
Platform Wijzer in geldzaken (Wiser in Money Matters Platform) is an initiative of the Ministry of Finance in which partners from various sectors join forces: the financial sector, the government, educational, public information and consumer organisations, and the sciences. In the Wiser in Money Matters Platform, more than 40 organisations combine their powers to make the consumer 'wiser in money matters'. They devote themselves to increasing the financial knowledge of Dutch citizens so that consumers are better able to make sound financial decisions. H.R.H. Princess Máxima has held the office of honorary chair of the platform since September 2010.
