Legislative Decree No. 87 of 14.06.2024 amended the penalty system in tax matters; in particular, in the field of VAT for delayed or omitted payment, in addition to the reduction of the administrative penalty, new rules were laid down on the criminal aspects.
The administrative penalty for late or non-payment of VAT has, in fact, been slightly reduced from the current 30% to 25% of the amount not paid or paid late.
The new VAT penalty system is now as follows:
- 25% of the unpaid amount;
- 12,50% (25%/2) of the unpaid amount, if the delay does not exceed 90 days;
- 0,83% (12.50%/15) of the unpaid amount for each day's delay, if the delay does not exceed 15 days.
On the criminal side, on the other hand, both the time limit after which the offence is triggered, which now becomes the 31 December of the year following the year of submission of the annual VAT returnthe amount of the payment and the condition of the taxpayer that triggers the offence.
In particular, if the taxpayer:
- did not enter into an instalment plan: the offence arises if the amount of unpaid VAT exceeds EUR 250,000.00;
- has entered into an instalment plan, but forfeits the benefit: the offence arises in that case if the amount of the residual debt exceeds EUR 75,000.00.
The criminal sanctions provided for are those contained in Article 10-ter of Legislative Decree No. 74 of 10.03.2000, i.e. the imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years.
For the purposes of the application of the offence of failure to pay, the new penalty regime provides that the results of the automated control must be communicated to the taxpayer by 30 September of the year following the year in which the relevant declaration was submitted.
While remaining at your disposal for any doubts or requests for clarification, we would like to take this opportunity to extend our best regards to all.