Value Added Tax Act (Cap. 406), article 77

77. Any person who - (a) knowingly fails to account for any taxable supply or any intra-community acquisi tion made by him in the records, documents and accounts required by this Act or any regulations made under this Act; (b) gives any return, statement or information required for any of the purposes of this Act which he knows to be incorrect or misleading in any material respect; (c) falsifies any records, documents or accounts required to be kept under this Act or prepares or draws up or helps in the preparation or drawing up or makes use of any false records or documents; (d) with the intent of concealing any evidence which he knows or is reasonably expected to know to be relevant for any purpose of this Act destroys, erases, damages or conceals any stored information or any records, documents or accoun ts, or is in possession of or supplies to another person any software application that would erase, destroy, damage or conceal any stored information or any such records, documents or accounts; (e) fails to provide or produce a tax or other invoice or document as and when required by article 50, 51 or 52 or provides any such tax or other invoice or document which is incorrect or misleading in any material respect or fails to provide to the Commissioner, without any valid reason, a ll copies of any used or unused manual fiscal receipts where required by the Commissioner; (f) is an employee or agent of another person, and whose functions in that capacity include that of providing or producing a tax or other invoice or document which that other person is required to provide or to produce in terms of article 50, 51 or 52, fails to provide or produce such tax or other invoice or document or provides any such tax or other invoice or document which is incorrect or misleading in any material respect; (g) provides an invoice or other document in respect of a supply showing tax to be chargeable on that supply in a case where he knows that no tax is chargeable or where the tax chargeable is less than that shown or otherwise knowingly adds to or includes in a price for a supply any amount purporting to represent tax which is not due or which is higher than the tax due; VALUE ADDED TAX [CAP. 406. 53 (h) applies to be registered under articles 11 or 11A in circumstances indicating that he knows or could with due diligence have known that he is not entitled to be so classified; (i) being registered under articles 11 or 11A and not being eligible to remain so registered does not apply for the cancellation of such registration in the manner required and within the time stipulated in this Act; (j) being registered under articles 11 or 11A purports in connection with any transaction not to be so registered for the purpose of obtaini ng any financial gain; (k) not being registered under articles 11, 11A or 11B purports in connection with any transaction to be so registered for the purpose of obtaining any financial gain; (l) having added to or included in a price for goods or services supplied by him to another person any amount purporting to represent tax chargeable under this Act, knowingly fails to account for that amount in his records and accounts or to pay that amount to the Commissioner; (m) acquires possession of or deals with any goods, or accepts the supply of any se rvices having reason to believe that the tax on the supply of the said goods or services has been or will be evaded; (n) supplies or offers to supply to another person goods or services the acquisition or dealing with which or the acceptance of which would render that other person guilty of an offence in virtue of paragraph ( m); (o) supplies or offers to supply to another person and, or puts up for sale goods, without being in possession, at the place where he supplies or offers to supply to another person and, or puts up for sale goods, of a fiscal cash register or manual fiscal receipt books as issued or approved by the Commissioner; (p) being a credit or financial institution which supplies money or grants credit by way of a loan account facility or by means of any other kind of facility to a customer in connection with the supply of goods or services by third parties to that customer for the construction, re-construction, repair, refurbishment or maintenance of immovable property or for fixtures related thereto, and which effects payment for such goods or services either directly to the vendor or supplier thereof or to a third party or to the customer subject to an understanding or to an express or implied condition that the amount paid will be passed on to the said vendor or supplier, by the debit of the customer’s loan account or other facility, on the basis of supporting documents, including contracts, invoices, receipts, architects’ or other certificates, or similar documents, submitted by or on behalf of the customer 54 CAP. 406.] VALUE ADDED TAX or by or on behalf of suppliers, contractors or other t h i r d p a r t i e s , a n d w h i c h f a i l s t o i n f o r m t h e Commissioner of the names and V AT registration numbers of the said suppliers, contractors or other third parties as aforesaid, other than the customer, to whom it has directly or indirectly made payments as specified in this paragraph, in the form required by the Commissioner, as well as of the amounts of such payments, by not later tha n the end of the calendar quarter immediately follo wing the calendar quarter during which it directly o r indirectly made any payment as aforesaid, shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liab le - (i) to a fine ( multa ) of not less than six thousand euro (€6,000) and not exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000) for an offence committed under paragraphs (c) and ( d); and (ii) to a fine ( multa ) of not less than seven hundred euro (€700) and not ex ceeding three thousand five hundred euro (€3,500) for an offence under the other paragraphs, and in addition, for any offence as above referred to in all paragraphs, except for paragraph ( p), where tax amounting to more than one hundred euro (€100) would be endangered, to a further fine ( multa ) equal to two times the endangered tax or to imprisonment of not more than six months or to both such fines and imprisonment: Provided that, the two times fine ( multa ) for the endangered tax shall in no case be less th an one thousand euro (€1,000). In addition, on a request by the prosecution, the court shall order the offender to comply with the law within a time suffici ent for the purpose, but in any cas e not exceeding one month, and, in default, the offender shall be liable to the payment of a furth er fine (multa) of five euro (€5) for every day on which the default continue s after the lapse of the t ime fixed by the Court. Recurrent offences. Amended by: XIII. 2005.53; L.N. 426 of 2007; L.N. 105 of 2008; II. 2009.51.