The tax office is giving 103,000 business owners until April to pay back deferred tax debts built up during the coronavirus crisis, NU.nl reported.

Businesses are being chased with letters from the tax office to pay up or ask for a postponement before the end of this month or face recovery procedures.

Of the 266,000 entrepreneurs who requested a tax deferment during the pandemic some 21,000 have now paid their debt in full.

But 103,000 have fallen behind in the an installment scheme that gives entrepreneurs five years to pay their debt and some 73,000 of them have not paid back anything at all.

The tax office said that some business owners are having financial problems, or don’t know they have to pay. Other are hoping the debt will be written off but that will not happen as it would be unfair to those who have paid, the cabinet has said.

In total the tax office is owed some €20 billion in deferred tax.