The more wealth a person has, the more likely it becomes that this wealth is made up of several components: wealthier people do not only have a savings account and own their own homes, they are also more likely to invest money in businesses by buying shares.
‘Our data on substantial interest holders – people who own at least 5 percent of the shares in an enterprise – was previously incomplete,’ says Menger.
‘Until 2016, we used to estimate share ownership based on dividend pay-outs.’
That meant that our statistics were not complete, mainly because most people with substantial interest in their own business do not pay themselves a dividend every year.
In 2016 we began to include data on owner-managers based on salary administration, and business assets according to corporation tax records.
That was a big improvement, but it still excluded interest holders who do not work for the business they own.
Thanks to a new collaboration with the Tax and Customs Administration, we now have a database containing all the business assets known to the tax authorities, including information gleaned from notarial deeds.
Read the article on Statistics Netherlands (CBS)