Turnover tax on irrecoverable outstandings

Are you still hoping against hope for payment of invoices you raised with particular customers for settlement by the first of January 2017? As these outstandings will be regarded as irrecoverable from the first of January 2018 onwards, you will be able to recover the turnover tax component by including it in your inaugural turnover tax return for 2018 (as a negative sale and negative turnover tax charge, questions 1.a and 1.b of the tax return form).

The same goes for any unpaid invoices you may be burdened by whose final date for payment occurred sometime in 2017. Here too you have the option of recovering the turnover tax component by incorporating the relevant items in the first turnover tax return you file in the new year (as a negative sale, question 1.a, and negative turnover tax, question 1.b). You should do this within the next 12 months of the final date of payment, or include the relevant item in your turnover tax return for the period in which you could no longer deny that your customer had left you high and dry.

Miracles do occasionally happen, and so in the event of your customer settling up your invoice after you have reversed the turnover tax charge in accordance with the above, you will have to un-reverse your previous reversal using questions 1.a or 1.b in your next turnover tax return.

And if all of this has left you feeling somewhat overwhelmed, remember that we are there to help you out.

Dutch version: BTW over oninbare facturen