- The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the presumption of joint liability of administrators for VAT debts under the principle of proportionality in the Netherlands.
- KL was the sole administrator and shareholder of a holding company, which in turn owned and managed a company engaged in VAT-taxable activities.
- The holding company transferred its stake in the operating company to a third party in March 2019, at which point KL ceased to be the administrator.
- The operating company failed to pay VAT and salary withholdings, and did not properly notify the Dutch tax authorities of its inability to pay.
- The tax authorities held KL jointly responsible for the debts, citing his failure to notify as grounds for the presumption of liability under Dutch law.
- KL challenged the decision, arguing that he acted in good faith and took reasonable measures to manage the situation, but the lower court ruled against him.
- The ECJ clarified that national law requiring administrators to prove their lack of culpability for failure to notify does not violate EU law as long as they can present evidence to support their claim.
- The ECJ also affirmed that holding administrators liable for debts from unnotified periods does not violate proportionality, even if they acted in good faith for subsequent periods.
Source: audiconsultores-etlglobal.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
