Loop hole, or just plain loopy? Thanks to recent court rulings you can now write off the costs of drug smuggling and Black Magic classes in the Netherlands.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- A Dutch court has added a new item to the list of activities eligible for tax relief: drug-running.
Judges in the city of Arnhem have declared that a fisherman convicted of smuggling drugs could deduct the cost of buying and shipping hashish to the Netherlands from his income on his tax return, the newspaper De Telegraaf reported Tuesday.
"We disagree with the local court, so we will go to the Supreme Court to appeal," said Tax Service spokesman Marcel Homan. He did not know when the Supreme Court would make a final ruling.
He declined to give further details, citing privacy rules.
De Telegraaf reported that the smuggler, whose identity was not released, appealed to the Arnhem court after being slapped with a $4.4 million tax bill.
The court ruled that because he had only been convicted of drug running and not trading in drugs he could deduct the cost of buying and transporting the drugs on his tax form. That cut his tax bill to $2.4 million.
The case is not the first time a court's ruling on taxes has raised Dutch eyebrows. In 2005, judges in the northern city of Leeuwarden ruled that witches can write off the cost of schooling in witchcraft against their tax bills if it increases the likelihood of employment and personal income.
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