Case C-259/12: Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 20 June 2013 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Plovdiv — Bulgaria) — Teritorialna direktsia na NAP — Plovdiv v Rodopi-M 91 OOD (Taxation — VAT — Directive 2006/112/EC — Principles of fiscal neutrality and proportionality — Belated recording in the accounts and declaration of the cancellation of an invoice — Remedying of the omission — Payment of the tax — State budget — No harm suffered — Administrative penalty)
Date: 2013-06-20
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Bulgaria, VAT, administrative sanction, deadline for payment, interpretation of the law, invoicing, national budget, principle of proportionality, tax return








C_2013225EN.01003402.xml










3.8.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 225/34





Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber) of 20 June 2013 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Administrativen sad Plovdiv — Bulgaria) — Teritorialna direktsia na NAP — Plovdiv v Rodopi-M 91 OOD
(Case C-259/12) (1)

(Taxation - VAT - Directive 2006/112/EC - Principles of fiscal neutrality and proportionality - Belated recording in the accounts and declaration of the cancellation of an invoice - Remedying of the omission - Payment of the tax - State budget - No harm suffered - Administrative penalty)
2013/C 225/58
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Administrativen sad Plovdiv

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant: Teritorialna direktsia na NAP — Plovdiv

Respondent: Rodopi-M 91 OOD

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Administrativen sad Plovdiv — Interpretation of Articles 242 and 273 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1) — Administrative penalty imposed on the ground of late declaration of the cancellation of an invoice even though the cancellation has subsequently been entered in the accounts and the person concerned has paid the tax that results from the cancelled invoice not entered in the purchase ledger and in the tax return for the tax period in question — Fine equivalent to the total amount of tax not paid in time — Principle of fiscal neutrality

Operative part of the judgment

The principle of fiscal neutrality does not preclude the tax authorities of a Member State from imposing upon a taxable person who has not fulfilled within the period prescribed by national legislation his obligation to record in the accounts and to declare matters affecting the calculation of the value added tax for which he is liable a fine equal to the amount of the value added tax not paid within that period where the taxable person has subsequently remedied the omission and paid all the tax due, together with interest. It is for the national court to determine, in view of Articles 242 and 273 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, whether in the light of the circumstances of the main proceedings — in particular the period within which the irregularity was rectified, the seriousness of that irregularity, and the presence of any evasion or any circumvention of the applicable legislation that is attributable to the taxable person — the amount of the penalty imposed goes beyond what is necessary to attain the objectives of ensuring the correct collection of tax and preventing evasion.


(1)  OJ C 243, 11.8.2012.