Budget Service Sees Legacy IT Systems Decline to 19%: Report

By Netvora Tech News

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The Dutch Budget Service, or Belastingdienst, has reported a slight decline in its legacy IT systems, with the "technical debt" decreasing from 20% to 19.3% last year. According to the service's annual report, this marks a significant step towards meeting the goal of largely resolving these issues by the end of 2026.

In its report, the Budget Service highlights a successful year, despite the challenges of a tight labor market and significant modernization efforts in IT. The service says it has achieved most of its performance indicators from the national budget, citing seven out of nine projects aimed at phasing out Cool:Gen as successful. Cool:Gen is the platform used for processing income and payroll taxes, and it is also used within the Loonheffingen chain.

System Modernization Hits Snag

However, the Budget Service's efforts to modernize its systems have hit a snag due to a shortage of IT personnel. As a result, the planned updates to the tax system will be delayed, with the earliest possible implementation now set for 2029. The service had initially hoped to complete the updates by 2028, but the delay is expected to be nine to 12 months.

• The Budget Service's technical debt, stemming from outdated IT systems, decreased from 20% to 19.3% in 2024.
• The service aims to largely resolve these issues by the end of 2026.
• Seven out of nine projects aimed at phasing out Cool:Gen were successful, with the remaining two expected to be completed by 2026.
• The modernization of Budget Service systems has been delayed due to a shortage of IT personnel, pushing the earliest possible implementation date to 2029.