Taxpayers ordered to pay… €0.00

12,000 Belgian residents have received reminders for unpaid fines to the amount of €0.00, because of a mistake by the federal public service for finances, the Sudpresse newspapers report. A glitch in an automatic search engine seems to be the cause of the problem. "The amount mentioned below still hasn't been paid. If payment doesn’t reach us within 8 days, we will take the necessary steps which will incur additional costs" is the message that 12,000 people received in a letter sent by the tax authorities. The federal public service confirms the news, explaining – via spokesman Francis Adyns – that "the reminders were sent based on automatic searches in our data banks". Necessary measures have now been taken in order to avoid similar incidents in the future, the spokesman added. The cost of this technical glitch is estimated at around €6,500.