NL- wrong reporting a criminal offense

From 1 January 2014, knowingly paying the VAT amount due late or to an amount that is too low is a criminal offense

Do you (sometimes) file a ‘VAT nil return’ because the correct or complete information is not available (yet) at the time the VAT return must be filed and the tax amount due must be paid? From 1 January 2014, the person who knowingly pays the VAT amount due late or to a too small amount can be punished with imprisonment or a fine.

Because the punishable offense is the actual late payment, incomplete payment or non-payment, the above does not apply to VAT returns that result in a refund. Committing this offence can, for example, be avoided by submitting the VAT return to an estimated amount (that should not be too low) and filing a timely request to the Tax Collector (i.e. not the Inspector) for postponement of payment of the VAT amount payable on the VAT return.

Link: www.nl.pwc.com/extweb/bn/taxnews.nsf/Public/XZ87057