edenspiekermann_
Dutch Tax Authorities

The Tax Authorities do not make it easy on themselves, fun as it is. After all, there’s so much involved: changing legislation, a growing level of automation, paying out allowances and still claiming that everything is becoming easier.

The Tax Authorities have been working closely with Edenspiekermann for over 20 years. In the late ‘80s, we developed the Tax Authorities’ house style with the famous blue envelope. We gradually became more involved in the user-friendly design of the forms, both paper and digital. Because of the unambiguous layout, fewer people need external help. Processing data is also faster. So it really is possible to make things easier.

In the mid-‘80s there was a great diversity of nomenclature, design, language, information structure and signposting within the Tax Authorities. Furthermore, the exchange of data was inefficient both externally and internally. Taxpayers made unintentional errors in filling in forms. This led to processing problems and unnecessary expense. In 1987, the Tax Authorities decided to perform a house style operation.

The condition of this house style operation was that it had to pay for itself within a few years. By mid-1992, it was clear that point had been passed. Just reducing the hundreds of envelopes and return forms to a few stadnard types saved 3 million euro a year.

These days, Edenspiekermann provides advice as a permanent partner in overall communication: from the drafts of new papers and electronic returns to the digital processing of data. With the focus on language usage and design.

The fact that the Tax Authorities’ house style still offers room for current methods of communication proves how durable it is.

“The simplified tax return has become an international standard for governmental communication,” says Dick Huneveld, the Tax Authorities’ house style process supervisor.