32In this case, Article 13(1) of Legislative Decree No 471/97 provides, in the event of a failure to pay VAT due, for an administrative penalty which is added to the amount of VAT to be paid by the taxable person. Although that penalty is, as is contended by the Italian Government in its written observations, reduced where the tax is actually paid within a certain time limit after the failure to pay, the fact remains that the late payment of VAT due is punished by that penalty. It thus appears, which moreover corresponds with the referring court’s assessment, that that penalty has a punitive purpose, which is the hallmark of a penalty of a criminal nature for the purposes of Article 50 of the Charter.
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