Supreme Court: Mere Presence Insufficient for Liability in Unlawful Possession of Untaxed Cigarettes

• The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) ruled on a cassation appeal regarding an additional excise tax assessment for possession of untaxed cigarettes.
• The case involved the discovery of over 15 million untaxed cigarettes in a warehouse not registered as an excise goods location.
• The key legal issue was whether mere presence at the location is sufficient to be considered “involved” in possessing excise goods.
• The Court clarified that simply being present is not enough to be deemed involved in the possession of excise goods for tax liability.

Source: uitspraken.rechtspraak.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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