Minor offence proceedings initiated by FURS

Authorised FURS officials may impose sanctions in minor offence proceedings by issuing a penalty notice or an offence decision.

A penalty notice is issued on the spot (at the moment an offence is identified) or from the office (when an offence is identified by technical means (such as failure to submit a return, etc.)). Perpetrators may lodge a request for judicial protection against an issued penalty notice within the statutory time limit or pay half the amount charged.

Any perpetrator who does not file a request for judicial protection within the specified time limit and pays the fine within eight days of the date when the penalty notice becomes final pays only half of the amount of the fine. A penalty notice becomes final eight days after the date of service, which means that the perpetrator has at least 16 days to pay half the amount charged.

A request for judicial protection against a penalty notice is not admissible if the perpetrator pays the fine before the notice becomes final (within eight days of service), unless the perpetrator had to pay the fine before the notice became final in accordance with the provisions of the Minor Offences Act (alien). Otherwise, the perpetrator must pay the fine in full.

A minor offence decision is issued when the conditions for issuing a penalty notice are not fulfilled. The perpetrator first receives an "information letter on minor offences with an invitation to make a statement", which comprises information about the minor offence as well as an invitation for the perpetrator to express his or her view on the minor offence within five days of the service of the information letter. The time limit for submitting the aforementioned statement cannot be extended. The content of the statement and the manner of its submission are indicated in the information letter. The offence notice does not mean that a fine has been imposed and thereby the time limit for paying a fine does not start to run. No redress may be sought against an information letter.

Upon the expiry of the time limit for submitting a statement, the perpetrator is issued a decision without any statement of the grounds, regarding which the perpetrator may give notice of his or her intention to seek legal protection within eight days of the date of service of the decision. If the notice is permitted and given in due time, a decision including a statement of grounds is issued, which may be appealed in court.

Any perpetrator who does not give notice of his or her intention to seek judicial protection may pay only half of the amount of the fine within eight days of the date when the aforementioned decision becomes final without stating any grounds for such action. A minor offence decision becomes final eight days after the date of service, which means that the perpetrator has at least 16 days to pay half the amount charged without stating any grounds for such action.

A request for judicial protection against a penalty notice is not admissible if the perpetrator pays the fine before the notice becomes final (within eight days of service) without stating any grounds for his or her action unless the perpetrator had to pay the fine before the notice became final in accordance with the provisions of the Minor Offences Act (aliens). Otherwise, the perpetrator must pay the fine in full.

A perpetrator may pay a fine to the payment service provider by using a universal payment order (UPN) completed with data from the penalty notice or minor offence decision by the perpetrator him- or herself or through an online bank transfer. Since no payment order is enclosed with an offence notice, particular care must be exercised when copying the account data and the payment reference ID indicated in the penalty notice or minor offence decision. This is essential for avoiding any subsequent need to prove the payment of the fine.

If the event of non-payment, action will be taken to enforce payment of the fine in full.