An entrepreneur for Value Added Tax (hereafter referred to as VAT) is required to file monthly or quarterly or annual VAT returns. Especially in monthly and quarterly returns it is possible that the VAT reporting is not done correctly. For instance due to a genuine mistake or later adjusted invoices, receipts with paid VAT retrieved after the return was done. Many reasons.
In the event that the VAT returns were not correctly filed for an entire year, it is possible that more VAT is due or refundable than actually has been done. This is shown on the balance. On the balance as per the end of the year a VAT amount is shown and if that does not match with the final VAT return filed over that year, then there is a problem.
The problem is not a simple mistake, but the problem is addressed by the tax office as fraud. Fraud is of course the name if not enough VAT was paid in the returns to the tax office. Fraud as deliberately not enough VAT was paid, even thought the entrepreneur could have known this looking at the balance of the company. If the entrepreneur cannot read his balance, then he most like also has not made the balance, then his advisor should have informed him.
The issue of having not paid enough VAT can easily be solved by filing an supplementary VAT return (suppletie aangifte). Then the difference is balanced out. This needs to be done within 5 months after the financial year has been closed. When done later, the amount due can be increased with a penalty.
We recently learned it even the other way around. In that specific situation the tax office found it strange that no supplementary returns were filed at all over the years by the company under investigation and that made the tax office curious about their VAT situation. This learns us that the tax office experts entrepreneurs to even out difference after all returns have been filed.
We at Orange Tax Services try to even out already all the differences in the fourth and last return of the year. At that moment most entrepreneurs would like to maximize their salary under the 30% ruling or minimize the salary with taking the minimum salary for entrepreneurs into account. The result is a rather precise filing of the returns and the annual report being ready at the same time.
