Tax & Legal

Following a preliminary request from the Münster Tax Court the ECJ ruled that the recipient of supplies of goods has a direct claim towards the tax authorities for reimbursement of improperly invoiced VAT he paid to the suppliers and which has been duly transferred by the latter to the treasury, even if the recipient can no longer turn directly to his suppliers for reimbursement due to the statute of limitation as provided for by national law.

In a French case the ECJ held that failure by a taxable person to provide additional information on the VAT refund application and to answer further questions within the one-month period provided for under Council Directive 2008/9 does not automatically lead to the forfeiture of his entitlement to a VAT refund.

The Supreme Tax Court has confirmed the Central Tax Office’ rejection of a foreign business VAT refund claim because the form had not been completely filled out.

The ECJ has upheld the rights of foreign businesses to a refund of VAT borne in a member state in which they do not carry out taxable transactions.

The ECJ has held the June 30 deadline for foreign business to file VAT refund claims to be mandatory. Claims filed later cannot be accepted.

The Supreme Tax Court has held that a foreign business required to file a VAT return for the year, does so for the full year. Its input tax can therefore be recovered in full.

The finance ministry has issued a decree on the changeover procedures for a foreign business making taxable turnover in Germany for the first time.