Samenvatting

In his article, Jurgen Kuiper describes what rules will be included in the law governing mediation in disputes between the tax authorities and a taxpayer (and his or her tax adviser/lawyer) in the Netherlands, based on the draft law proposal initiated by Ard van der Steur, a member of the Dutch Parliament. Jurgen Kuiper describes when and how mediation is achieved, what else is regulated in relation to mediation, and who the mediator will be. He also describes what is new in the draft law proposal in comparison with the content of the mediation agreement which currently in practice is concluded between the tax authorities, the taxpayer (and his or her (tax) adviser/lawyer) and the mediator at the beginning of the mediation. Although the draft law proposal contains some new items, he expects that, in practice, the draft law will hardly make any difference when it comes to mediation in tax disputes. He also expects that regulation of mediation in tax disputes in the law might contribute to mediation in tax matters being taken more seriously.