Tax assistance organisation De Smeetskring saved for a year

Fiscal legal aid organisation De Smeetskring was in danger of losing its municipal subsidy this year, due to changes in the rules. Through De Smeetskring, students help lower income Tilburg residents with their tax returns. Due to the usefulness and necessity of this work, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen has decided to make an exception for this year and award a subsidy anyway.

According to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, De Smeetskring is an excellent organization and ‘important for the livelihood security of residents of the city’. At the assessment of the subsidy application for this and next year, De Smeetskring received a more than satisfactory grade. Nevertheless, De Smeetskring was in danger of missing out, because the subsidy pot of approximately 4.5 million had already been emptied by higher-scoring organizations.

Geert van de Waterbeemd, treasurer of De Smeetskring, was unpleasantly surprised when he heard about the subsidy issues. ‘When I hadn’t heard anything about our subsidy application for 2025 and 2026 in December, I made a phone call. I was then told that there was a problem and that they would look for a solution.’

Poverty reduction

‘We haven’t heard anything else yet, we still don’t know what the problem is,’ says Van de Waterbeemd. ‘It’s nothing new what we’re doing, we’ve been doing it for years. If there’s one foundation that is working on poverty reduction in Tilburg, it’s us. We help people with all kinds of problems, and we also seek cooperation with other organisations such as De Rechtswinkel and Vluchtelingenwerk.’

Because of the 52 thousand euros in subsidy, the foundation can continue providing tax assistance for another year. This is done annually by some forty to fifty students of Tax Law and Fiscal Economics during consultation hours or on the National Declaration Day, this year on 8 March. It is still unclear what will happen to the subsidy in the future. The municipality will evaluate the subsidy policy later this year. Van de Waterbeemd: ‘We may have to write down our application differently or explain it differently. We are going to talk to them.’

Pens and stamps

The Smeetskring is completely dependent on this municipal subsidy. Normally that is very convenient, says Van de Waterbeemd, you do not have to deal with all kinds of organisations and different applications. ‘Ninety percent of the subsidy goes to our fixed costs. The rent of the building, one permanent employee. The rest is about pens and pencils and stamps. The forty to fifty students each year work for free.’