TPG Post wins legal proceedings against tax authorities and OPTA
Royal TPG Post has won its case against the Dutch tax authorities and the Independent Post & Telecommunications Authorities (OPTA).
(3/18/2004)
The court in The Hague ruled that the tax forms sent by the tax authorities to taxpayers should be regarded as ‘letters’, thereby falling under the exclusive concession held by TPG Post for the conveyance of letters. The tax authorities may therefore not tender the forms to TPG Post’s competitors for distribution.
The tax authorities disputed this following OPTA’s opinion that tax forms should be regarded as printed matter. However, the court considers tax forms as personalised written items. As soon as unique and personal details are printed on a mail item, such as the social and fiscal identification number, tax form number, date of birth, bank account number or barcode, this mail item is a letter.
The court also decided that OPTA had not taken into account the interests of TPG Post in forming its opinion, as they did not consult with TPG Post on their own initiative in order to gain the company’s opinion.
The court has ordered OPTA to publish a rectification on its website and in its magazine ‘OPTA Connecties’.
Harry Koorstra, responsible for TPG Post within the TPG Board of Management, said: “We are of course pleased with this judgement, which very clearly indicates that tax forms should be seen as letters. This decision confirms the clear legislation in this area. It is also good that the court’s decision means that in the future OPTA will have to ask TPG Post for its opinion in cases in which TPG Post is a directly related party.”
TPG Post commenced with the full proceedings against OPTA and the tax authorities in mid-2003. TPG Post also instigated summary proceedings against the tax authorities when the latter launched an open bid procedure, which also encompassed the disputed tax forms. On September 10th, 2003, the president of the court in The Hague ordered the tax authorities to suspend the relevant part of the open tender procedure pending a decision in the full proceedings.
