Determination of the taxable person liable for the tax EU VAT case law

3 cases of the Court of Justice and the General Court of the European Union on this point of VAT law, from 2019 to 2023.

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Provisions these cases interpret most

Article 9 of Directive 2006/112/EC Taxable persons · 2 of these cases
Article 1 of Directive 2006/112/EC Subject matter and scope · 2 of these cases
Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC Persons liable for payment of VAT to the tax authorities · 2 of these cases
Article 11 of Directive 2006/112/EC Taxable persons · 1 of these cases
Article 178 of Directive 2006/112/EC Rules governing exercise of the right of deduction · 1 of these cases
Article 168 of Directive 2006/112/EC Origin and scope of right of deduction · 1 of these cases
Article 12 of Directive 2006/112/EC Taxable persons · 1 of these cases
Article 14 of Directive 2006/112/EC Supply of goods · 1 of these cases

The 3 cases, most recent first

Under each case, what the Court decided, from its summary. The summaries are AI-generated and are not official documents: open the case for the Court’s own text.

C-519/21 DGRFP Cluj

Judgment · 16 February 2023 · Romania

Unregistered association without legal personality, who is the taxable person and who deducts

The parties to an association contract without legal personality that was not registered with the tax authorities before the activity began cannot be treated as taxable persons alongside the person liable on the taxable transaction. The sales' legal effects concerned only the registered owners. Absence of an invoice in the claimant's own name is not fatal, but deduction depends on objective evidence that the goods and services were actually supplied to her by taxable persons for her own taxed transactions, avoiding double deduction. The third question was inadmissible. Relevant to property developers and joint ventures structured as contractual associations or silent partnerships, particularly where individuals pool land and finance.

C-312/19 Valstybinė mokesčių inspekcija (Joint activity agreement)

Judgment · 16 September 2020 · Lithuania

Which partner is the taxable person under a joint activity agreement

The individual who participates alone and in his own name in dealings with third parties, notwithstanding a contractual power to act in the name of all partners, carries out the economic activity independently. He is the taxable person under Article 9(1) and solely liable under Article 193, whether acting on his own behalf or on behalf of another as a commission agent under Articles 14(2)(c) and 28. The remaining questions on allocation between partners and the Article 287 threshold did not require an answer. Relevant to advisers on unincorporated joint ventures, property development consortia and silent partnership structures, particularly in Member States where partnerships lack legal personality.

C-434/17 Human Operator

Judgment · 13 February 2019 · Hungary

Retroactive application of a derogation authorising reverse charge

A Member State may not apply the derogating measure before the Council decision has been notified to it. Under Article 297(2) TFEU the decision took effect on notification, and legal certainty precludes retroactivity absent an express provision. The Member State's stated wish, and the Commission's awareness that it had already begun applying the measure, are irrelevant. For the earlier period the general rule in Article 193 applies, is unconditional and sufficiently precise, and can be relied on directly. The suppliers, not the recipients, were liable. Relevant to businesses in Member States that jump the gun on Article 395 derogations, particularly labour supply, staffing and construction sectors.