Dutch authorities are summoning the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan on alleged evasion of dividend withholding tax worth more than €200 million.

Last week, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service confirmed it was calling on a foreign pension fund based on the suspicion of evasion of dividend withholding tax. The agency didn’t name the Ontario pension fund, but the investment organization issued its own statement later confirming the investigation.

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“[The] HOOPP is surprised and disappointed by this decision and will vigorously defend itself against these allegations,” read the statement.

The investment organization said it has been cooperating with the tax authority in the country for years now on this issue and disputes the interpretation of a Dutch tax provision, which it believes should be solely adjudicated by a tax court.

The HOOPP reclaimed and received dividend withholding tax from the Dutch authorities from 2013 up to and including 2019, officials said. An official investigation was set forth in 2019 by the Netherlands Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service, under the direction of the Public Prosecution Service. The investigation into a former employee is still ongoing, it said. A first hearing date hasn’t been set yet.

“These allegations will have no impact on [the] HOOPP’s ability to pay pensions to our members today or in the future,” the pension fund said in its statement.

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