Court Overturns VAT Fraud Conviction: Improper Notification of Deregistration

The case involves a person, T, who was accused of VAT fraud (momssvig) for intentionally evading taxes owed to the state between December 19, 2014, and December 31, 2017. During this period, T operated a VAT-liable business despite the Danish Customs and Tax Administration (SKAT) forcibly deregistering the business from VAT registration on December 18, 2014. The prosecution claimed that T continued to generate VAT-liable income, resulting in the state being deprived of 402,372 DKK in VAT.T argued that he was unaware of the deregistration because he never received the notification letter from SKAT, sent on December 18, 2014. The letter was mailed to his stall (likely a sausage wagon, “pølsevogn”), which was closed for the winter and had no mailbox. This occurred before the introduction of Digital Post in Denmark.The district court noted that the letter was not sent as registered mail and accepted T’s claim that he did not receive it. The prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence against T’s explanation to prove he was aware of the deregistration or had the intent to commit fraud as alleged. Consequently, T was acquitted. The Eastern High Court (Østre Landsret) upheld the district court’s ruling.

Source: info.skat.dk

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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