Errors in preliminary VAT returns - Don’t put off making corrections until the annual return
Inaccurate preliminary VAT returns could in future have significantly more serious criminal consequences. The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has amended its previous case-law and now treats incorrect preliminary returns as well as inaccurate annual returns as separate offences.
Within the scope of the ruling of 10.12.2025 (case reference: 1 StR 387/25), the BGH decided that every incorrect preliminary VAT return and, in addition, also an inaccurate annual return could, each independently, fulfil the statutorily required elements of tax evasion. It has hitherto frequently been assumed that the subsequent annual return supersedes the individual preliminary returns and that is why there is only a single offence. The BGH has now expressly distanced itself from this view. To substantiate this, the court pointed out that both the preliminary returns as well as the annual return represent separate obligations with respect to filing returns and if they are breached then they must be judged separately in each case.
The practical consequences of this ruling are considerable. For example, if twelve inaccurate monthly preliminary VAT returns are submitted and, in addition, an incorrect annual return is filed then, in future, there would be 13 separate tax offences overall. Consequently, the importance of the prompt correction of errors has increased significantly for companies and advisers.
