# VVD rejects tax plan deal, splitting Dutch coalition

> Prime Minister Rob Jetten and his two deputy prime ministers are meeting coalition parliamentary leaders this weekend after the VVD rejected a tax plan deal that split the three-party cabinet.

Politics · published 2026-11-14 05:17 · https://nlnow.nl/a/coalition-leaders-meet-in-hilversum-to-save-dutch-cabinet/

Prime Minister Rob Jetten and deputy prime ministers Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Bart van den Brink (CDA) are meeting the coalition's parliamentary leaders today and tomorrow at the De Zwaluwenberg estate in Hilversum. The rift in the coalition has not healed.

The dispute centres on the tax plan, which parliament adopted with an amendment from PRO and Volt. The plan followed a deal between D66, CDA, PRO and Volt, which the VVD rejects. Yesilgöz says the deal is unacceptable because it would be "not good" for business.

Yesilgöz wants a correction on both substance and politics, which she has called a "fundamental reset". On Friday she called for an extra party to join the coalition, but did not name one. A minority cabinet is no longer an option for the VVD leader. On the substance of a reset, she said: "We didn't get anywhere on that."

Jetten said sending the tax plan debate to the Tweede Kamer was the whole point of a minority cabinet, which meant an end to "suffocating coalition agreements".

The past weeks were "exciting", Jetten said, and do not deserve "the beauty prize". "We could all have done things differently and better," he said.

## Background

- **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.
- **PRO**: PRO is a Dutch political party with seats in the Tweede Kamer, the House of Representatives, the lower house of the States General. Its members vote on legislation there, including tax bills, and it can table amendments and join agreements with other parties. Because it is a parliamentary party, its position affects which coalitions and majorities are possible.
- **Volt**: Volt is a pan-European political party with a Dutch branch, Volt Nederland, which holds seats in the Tweede Kamer, the House of Representatives. Its MPs vote on legislation and can propose amendments, and it can enter agreements with other parties on bills such as the tax plan. Its parliamentary role makes it relevant to majorities in the lower house.

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