When does not filing become a criminal offence?

Most cases are not criminal matters

Every fiscal offence requires intent. The Cursus Belastingrecht, the Dutch tax-law reference work, is explicit about this: “there is in any case no intent in the case of (well-meaning) business owners who are, whether or not temporarily, in payment difficulties and request a deferral of payment.” Someone who has fallen behind but cooperates once it comes up is dealt with administratively. That means a default penalty (articles 67a, 67b or 67c of the General Tax Act), not a criminal case.

When it does become a criminal matter

Article 69 of the General Tax Act has two tiers. The lighter fiscal offences of paragraph 1, for example deliberately filing an incorrect return, carry a maximum of four years' imprisonment or a category-4 fine (€ 27,500, since 1 January 2026). If the amount of tax underpaid is higher, that amount becomes the ceiling instead, up to once that sum.

The more serious fiscal offences of paragraph 2, broadly the deliberate variant with a larger shortfall or aggravating circumstances, carry a maximum of six years or a category-5 fine (€ 110,000, since 1 January 2026), or up to once the shortfall. For income tax, that can run to three times the amount.

Since 2014, article 69a has also existed. It makes it an offence to deliberately not pay, partly not pay, or not pay on time a tax due on filing, such as VAT: a maximum of six years or a category-5 fine, or the amount itself. There are two exceptions where this is not a criminal offence: if a deferral of payment was requested in time, or if the Belastingdienst was notified in writing without delay that payment was not possible.

The threshold: € 20,000 in underpaid tax

Tax officials only need to refer a case to the penalty-and-fraud coordinator once the fiscal loss in the period under review exceeds € 20,000 (the AAFD Guidelines). Below that, or without intent, the case is settled administratively. That means a fine, not a criminal case.

Una via: not punished twice for the same act

Once an administrative fine has been chosen, criminal prosecution for that same act is no longer possible, and vice versa. An already-imposed default penalty can therefore block a later criminal case over the same conduct.

Coming forward before it is too late: voluntary disclosure

If you file a correct and complete return of your own accord before you know or should know that the Belastingdienst is onto you, the right to prosecute lapses (article 69(3) of the General Tax Act). One thing to note: since 1 January 2018, this no longer applies to income from a substantial shareholding or to assets that arose abroad.

Invited for questioning?

Do not respond on your own, and certainly not verbally, before you have taken advice. An invitation from the FIOD, the tax and customs fraud investigation service, or an announcement of a books audit that mentions fraud, is a different conversation from a routine check. Get in touch first.