VAT Assessment for Self-Billing: Penalty Reduced to Gross Negligence Due to Lack of Intent

A software company filed nil VAT returns for the first two quarters of 2018 and partially paid VAT for the rest; after an audit, the tax authority imposed an additional assessment and a 50% penalty for (conditional) intent.
The disputed VAT mainly related to self-billing invoices issued by another company (BV2) in the name of the taxpayer, who argued the services were actually performed by a related company (BV1).
The court ruled the taxpayer owed VAT simply because self-billing invoices were issued in its name, regardless of who performed the services.
The court found no proof of (conditional) intent for the self-billing invoices, but did find gross negligence, reducing the penalty to 25% for that part; the 50% penalty remained for the nil returns.
The total penalty was further reduced by 20% due to exceeding the reasonable time limit for the case.

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.