Rutte: Not enough political support to force the king to pay taxes

Prime Minister Mark Rutte will not listen to calls from Tweed Comer abolish tax exemption For some members of the Dutch royal family. The proposal requires a constitutional amendment and Congress does not have his two-thirds majority necessary to pass it, he said in the letter.

King Willem-Alexander, King Maxima, Princess Amalia and ex-Queen Princess Beatrix are exempt from taxes under Article 40 of the Constitution. When the royal family’s budget was debated in her October, the political party DENK submitted a motion asking the government to repeal that exemption. The proposal was adopted by a simple majority against Rutte’s advice.

The party that voted in favor of the motion holds 90 seats in Tweede Kamer. Among the 150 members of parliament, he needs at least 100 votes to win a two-thirds majority. Rutte said constitutional reform “doesn’t matter if a sufficient constitutional backing is not actually established”. Therefore, he will not carry out the motion.

At the time, Tweede Kamer also noted an increase in the allowances the King receives. This year this he increased by 276,000 euros to more than 6.4 million euros. A parliamentary majority suggested that it would be a positive statement if Willem-Alexander refused to raise prices, given the money worries many Dutch people have.