The Belgian tax authorities want to get rid of direct telephone and e-mail traffic between the taxpayer and the official handling the case. That writes Het Nieuwsblad.

Until recently, Belgians who received an assessment or other message from FPS Finance could directly contact the official in charge - via a direct telephone number and e-mail address. This has been changed since December. The argument for the adjustment is that there is more and more fraud with e-mail addresses of government services. After removing the e-mail address, the direct telephone number has now also been deleted, which has led to a lot of criticism.

Overloaded call center

According to federal ombudsman David Baele, there is a great need for telephone accessibility and call centers are not always the ideal solution. Other experts also express objections and point out that tax matters are becoming increasingly complex, requiring more support. “It is very important that citizens can easily ask a question to the tax authorities and receive a quick answer. Without detours and without having to tell his story several times to someone who does not manage the file.”

The call center is struggling with a staff shortage, which means that the contact center is not always easily accessible. According to the minister, there is no reason to assume that telephone services will deteriorate if you can no longer call directly. In addition, a solution has been devised: FPS Finance has recently added a code in its correspondence that can be used for telephone contact, in order to reach the right person more quickly and thus hopefully also find the solution.

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