In our video this week, Jacqueline Zuidweg shares her experiences negotiating with the tax authorities about payment arrangements for entrepreneurs with tax debt. Most entrepreneurs who come to Zuidweg & Partners are personally liable for their debts and the Tax and Customs Administration is almost always one of the largest creditors. How do you deal with that? The most important thing to know is that the present financial problems are tackled from the perspective of the future. This means that it is first examined whether the entrepreneur can continue with his or her business. Then an estimate is made of how much the entrepreneur will earn with his or her company in the coming years. The repayment capacity of the entrepreneur is calculated from this estimate. That is the amount that the entrepreneur can pay per month to pay off his or her debts. It is calculated from this how much the entrepreneur can repay of the total debt. This amount is then proposed to the creditors. It is important to know that there are two types of creditors. Preferred and unsecured creditors. Preferred creditors receive double the unsecured creditors. The Tax and Customs Administration is a preferred creditor. This means, for example, that if you offer an amount of 10% of the total debt to your creditors, you must offer at least 20% to the tax authorities. The amount you offer to the Tax Authorities must also be higher than the amount that the Tax Authorities could collect from you if they use their recovery means such as seizure of your household effects or equity in your home. Forgiveness of tax debt remains an exception.