Belgian government turning to social media to collect taxes

The future is now. Belgians with debts to the tax authorities have traditionally been contacted by telephone, but new methods will make it a lot more difficult to ignore the call. The Belgian Federal Fiscal Administration will soon make it common practice to contact people using SMS, email and social networking channels. The current system of contacting people with outstanding debts owed to the government by telephone has allowed many to skirt authorities, making the new initiative an important step to see some of those debts paid.

Although the new digital method of sending ‘reminders’ is in its infancy, roughly € 11.3 million in debts owed has been recovered in the first 15 days. The Federal Public Service is also now considering similar options to reach those who often miss their phone calls.