As the first accountancy firm in Southern Limburg, Wolting & Versteegh Accountants en Belastingadviseurs has underwritten a covenant on Horizontal Monitoring with the Tax Authorities of ‘de Belastingdienst’ on Thursday 29 April 2010. Rob Schoenmaekers, member of the management team of ‘de Belastingdienst’, Limburg region, and Hans Wolting, director of Wolting & Versteegh Accountants en Belastingadviseurs (Wolting & Versteegh), signed the covenant.
Covenant Horizontal Monitoring
Wolting & Versteegh underwrites covenant horizontal monitoringHorizontal Monitoring is the new method for ‘de Belastingdienst’ to exercise scrutiny. Trust, understanding, and transparency are the key-concepts here.
The covenant Horizontal Monitoring contains arrangements regarding the quality and approach that SRA-associated accountancy firms guarantee when taking care of the various tax reports for their clients under a regime of Horizontal Monitoring. It is based on the quality and review system applied by Wolting & Versteegh, and it is valid for all major tax vehicles: taxes withheld on wages, income tax, VAT, and corporate taxes. ‘De Belastingdienst’ trusts your declaration is accurate because the quality meets the above-mentioned quality and review system standards.
Hans Wolting: “Horizontal Monitoring is ‘de Belastingdienst’s’ new method to exercise scrutiny. Trust, understanding, and transparency are the key-concepts, here. This regards, amongst other things, the quality of processes and procedures, methods applied for the declaration process, scrutiny, and ways to liaison. Clear agreements and proper calibration before-hand are now to substitute controls after the fact. Security on tax matters will only increase for our clients through Horizontal Monitoring: they will know sooner what they’re dealing with. Administrative costs might also be reduced through Horizontal Monitoring”.
By underwriting the covenant, Wolting & Versteegh’s clients can switch to the new approach immediately. Hans Wolting: “It actually is barely different from the way we’ve always been working. Also with this new approach we will continue to protect each client’s interests as well as we can. And, in case ambiguities might occur we have difficulty to agree on with the Tax Office, nothing prevents us from considering to bring the case to Court”.
Also with this new approach we will continue to protect each client’s interests as well as we can.
With over 700 clients that have decided, in advance, to agree with the servicing of their tax reports under the regime of Horizontal Monitoring, Wolting & Versteegh is market-leader in the Limburg region, according to Rob Schoenmaekers. “More than that, even. Throughout the Netherlands, there is no firm that is starting off with such a great number of clients according to the Tax Office’s new guidelines for scrutiny.”