Altering the payroll list and canceling invoices when it becomes a criminal offense.

The Tax Administration has announced that it has identified two high-risk phenomena: taxpayers who make downward adjustments to their payroll declarations in order to avoid paying social security and health insurance contributions for employees, and taxpayers who cancel declared sales invoices without reflecting these cancellations in their customers' purchase books.

“We hereby inform all taxpayers that these unjustified amendments to declarations, primarily the alteration of the payroll statement, directly undermine not only the Tax Administration but also the employee's pension and medical services, and are considered a criminal offense under the law.

Tax Administration

From our daily work, we see that some businesses view amending a filed statement as merely an administrative procedure, without linking it to the criminal penalties the law attaches when the amendment involves a reduction and no real justification.

Source: General Directorate of Taxes.

Why does it matter today?

Any change to the payroll statement must have a valid, documented reason—such as termination of employment or correction of an error—not merely a reduction in contributions. Similarly, any cancellation of a sales invoice must be communicated to the customer so they can record it in their purchase ledger; otherwise, a discrepancy arises that the authorities can easily detect.

How we handle this with our clients

When a client needs to correct a submitted statement, we document the reason for the change before making it, and we notify them immediately when an invoice cancellation affects another party's purchase ledger.