Open AccessLiquidity crisis, criminal sanctions and non-payment of VAT according to the Court of Justice of the European Union
Author(s) -
Antonio Del Sole
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
crónica tributaria/crónica tributaria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2695-7566
pISSN - 0210-2919
DOI - 10.47092/ct.20.4.2
Subject(s) - sanctions , debt , european union , legitimacy , business , political science , criminal law , law , payment , economics , law and economics , economic policy , finance , politics
The continuing cash-flow crise of taxpayers, and in particular of businesses, recently exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19, raises the question whether it is acceptable in law today that the fulfilment of a debt, even if that debt is of a fiscal nature, to be subject to criminal sanctions. In the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 2 May 2018 in Case C-574/15, this article is fundamentally concerned with the legitimacy of the use of criminal law to sanction taxpayers who find themselves unable to fulfil their tax obligations, although they were timely and truthfully declared to the tax authorities.