# Senate would block 2027 tax package on current backing

> The parties that backed the 2027 tax package in the lower house hold 34 Senate votes, at least four short of what is needed. A debate is provisionally set for 7 December.

Politics · published 2026-11-14 08:45 · https://nlnow.nl/a/2027-tax-package-still-lacks-a-majority-in-the-senate/

The 2027 tax package is at least four seats short of a majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Senate, if the parties that backed it in the lower house vote for it again. Senators are provisionally due to debate the package on Monday 7 December.

On Thursday evening D66, PRO, CDA, ChristenUnie, DENK, Partij voor de Dieren, 50PLUS and Volt voted in favour in the Tweede Kamer. Together these parties account for 34 votes in the Senate. DENK has no seats there, so its vote in the lower house adds nothing to that total.

Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals) voted for the package in the Tweede Kamer, but its support in the Senate is uncertain. The senate group using that name consists of senators who split from the party. Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers is the one senator still backed by the parent party.

The Senate can only accept or reject the package as a whole. The upper house includes many single-member groups, among them senators who split from the BBB, and the independent senate group OPNL holds one seat.

## Background

- **Eerste Kamer**: The Senate, the upper house of the Dutch parliament. It cannot amend bills but can approve or reject them after the Tweede Kamer has passed them. Its 75 members are elected by the members of the provincial councils.
- **Tweede Kamer**: The House of Representatives, the lower and more powerful house of the Dutch parliament. Its 150 members are elected directly; it can amend bills and holds the cabinet to account.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/