Parents hit by the tax office child benefit scandal scandal will receive compensation before the end of the year, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

Some 300 families were forced to pay back thousands of euros in what the tax office said was wrongly-claimed child benefits, without knowing what they were supposed to have done wrong.

Last month, a government committee set up to investigate the scandal said the tax office should pay compensation to the families some of whom faced financial ruin.

Most were dual national families, who not only lost benefits but were ordered to pay back money stretching several years. One family faced a €75,000 bill after the tax office said it had wrongly claimed benefits without producing any evidence.

The offer, ranging between €20,000 and €66,000 is only an estimate and does not legal costs or compensation to families forced to sell their possessions to meet the tax office demands.

The definitive amounts will be paid next year.

The families will also receive a letter from tax minister Menno Snel in which he tells them that he understands the money can never compensate them fully for everything they have gone through.