An MRE declares to the tax authorities that she lives in Morocco… then tries to convince the courts otherwise
A tax declaration completed nearly two years after the events weighed heavily in the case of a woman seeking assistance in the Netherlands. She had herself stated that she had been living in Morocco since 2 August 2021.
The case concerns Tozo, temporary assistance granted to self-employed workers during the Covid crisis. The woman had applied for it from 1 July to 30 September 2021 through the Dutch municipality of Vught.
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After several years of proceedings, she had prevailed on an initial point. The municipality then agreed to pay her the assistance, subject to receiving the necessary information about her income.
It was when she provided these documents that the situation changed. Among the documents submitted was her 2021 income tax return, sent to the Dutch tax authorities in January 2023.
She had stated that she had not lived in the Netherlands throughout the whole of 2021. In response to the question about the date on which her residence in the Netherlands ended, she had entered 1 August. For the following day, 2 August, the country of residence indicated was: Morocco.
A declaration completed by her
The municipality ultimately granted her Tozo from 1 July to 1 August 2021, but not for the following two months. The woman challenged this decision, asserting that she had in fact retained her main residence in Vught until the end of September.
She notably produced her registration in the population register, documents concerning her accommodation, a water bill and correspondence related to her lease. She also explained before the court that she had travelled to Morocco in August 2021 before returning to the Netherlands and that she had misunderstood the question when completing her tax declaration.
This argument did not convince the Centrale Raad van Beroep, the highest Dutch court with jurisdiction over social security matters. The judges noted that the declaration had been electronically signed without reservation and that it was specifically a tax form intended for situations involving emigration or immigration.
The Court also noted that this declaration had been completed in 2023, a long time after the stay in Morocco. It therefore considered it difficult to explain why the nature and duration of that stay would still have been unclear when the form was completed. The declaration had moreover never been corrected.
The other documents were not sufficient to demonstrate that she had actually resided in the Netherlands throughout the disputed period. Administrative registration or maintaining accommodation are not, on their own, sufficient to establish the actual place of residence, states the decision of the Centrale Raad van Beroep issued on 3 March 2026.
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The court therefore confirmed the payment of Tozo only from 1 July to 1 August 2021. For the period from 2 August to 30 September, the woman failed to demonstrate that the centre of her life was still in the Netherlands. An indication reading “Morocco” entered by her herself on her tax declaration thus constituted one of the decisive pieces of evidence in the case.