No Penalty for VAT Fraud in Other EU State Without Intent to Evade Dutch VAT

• The Dutch Supreme Court annulled fines imposed on a car dealer for involvement in VAT fraud in another EU country.
• Intent to evade VAT in another member state does not constitute a punishable offense under Dutch law (article 67f AWR); the intent must be directed at evading Dutch VAT.
• The Supreme Court ruled that if a tax assessment is solely based on denying the zero VAT rate due to fraud or abuse, but the material conditions for the zero rate are met, no fine can be imposed under article 67f AWR.
• This decision marks a change in the Supreme Court’s previous case law, emphasizing the principle of legality.
• The imposed fines were therefore overturned.

Source: taxence.nl

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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