Spontaneous alert on customs and excise: what you need to know

Actors in the international movement of goods, such as importers, exporters, customs representatives and transporters, are aware of the complexity of customs and excise matters. The speed of international trade makes mistakes and irregularities inevitable. While mistakes are human, even small errors related to customs and excise can have significant consequences, including criminal penalties. In this article, we discuss the consequences of erroneous customs declarations, the criminal exculpatory ground and the importance of well-informed decisions.

Consequences of an erroneous customs excise declaration

Making a mistake in customs matters, such as an incorrect commodity code, an incorrect customs value or an incorrect country of origin on the import declaration, can strictly speaking be considered a customs offence. In customs and excise jurisprudence, the principle of 'guilt by breach of law' applies. This means that non-compliance with a legal obligation is already sufficient to establish criminal liability, regardless of the intention of the offender. The penalties for customs and excise violations can be severe, ranging from imprisonment and high fines to forfeiture of goods. This highlights how important it is to take care when correcting customs excise errors.

The punitive excise duty excise privilege ground

To give companies a chance to correct errors without criminal consequences, the legislator introduced an important punitive excusal ground in section 261-2, 2° of the General Customs and Excise Act (AWDA). This provision states that the penalties for excise duty offences do not apply to the person who spontaneously reports the fraud or irregularity to the Minister of Finance or his delegate, and pays the supplement of duties and excise duty due.

To qualify for this ground of excusal, some conditions must be met:

• Spontaneous alert: the notification must be spontaneous. This means that once an investigation or prosecution by the General Administration of Customs and Excise (AADA) is underway, the report is no longer considered spontaneous.
• Transparent reporting: the fraud or irregularity must be reported in a transparent, clear, complete, precise and sincere manner. Incomplete or insincere reports will lead to prosecution by the AADA.
• Payment of duties and taxes due: the supplement of duties and taxes due must be paid. Although the application of the ground for concealment ensures that no penalty is imposed, the supplementary duties and excise taxes must still be paid.
• Notification to the appropriate authority: the notification must be made to the Minister of Finance or his delegate. In practice, this is done by sending a letter to the adviser general, departmental head of the Department of Disputes.

The importance of well-informed decisions

Making a spontaneous alert is a delicate matter that should always stem from a well-considered and well-informed decision. For this, you should preferably call on someone who specialises in customs and excise to assess whether you or your company qualifies for the punitive exculpatory ground of section 261-2, 2° AWDA. This specialist can also advise you on the steps you should take to spontaneously report and regularise the error, mistake or irregularity.

Specialised lawyer Antwerp

Errors and irregularities in customs and excise cases can have far-reaching consequences. However, the possibility of applying a penalising ground of concealment offers companies an important opportunity to correct themselves without criminal sanctions. Antaxius Advocaten is the right lawyer in Antwerp for this. We guide you through this process and ensure that your company complies with all legal requirements.

Do you have questions about customs and excise or have you noticed an error or irregularity in your customs declaration? If so, please contact our office. We will be happy to help you take the right steps and obtain tax satisfaction.

For more information, please contact Erik Gevers (erik.gevers @antaxius.be), Erhard Vermeulen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Jonas Horsten (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).