Scope of the Charter of Fundamental Rights 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 2013 to 2025.

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Provisions these cases interpret most

Article 273 of Directive 2006/112/EC Obligations of taxable persons and certain non-taxable persons · 2 of these cases
Article 168 of Directive 2006/112/EC Origin and scope of right of deduction · 1 of these cases
Article 47 of Directive 2006/112/EC Particular provisions · 1 of these cases
Article 50 of Directive 2006/112/EC Particular provisions · 1 of these cases
Article 395 of Directive 2006/112/EC Simplification measures and measures to prevent tax evasion or avoidance · 1 of these cases
Article 2 of Directive 2006/112/EC Subject matter and scope · 1 of these cases
Article 22 of Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC Obligations of persons liable for payment · 1 of these cases
Article 250 of Directive 2006/112/EC Returns · 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-475/24 Fashion TV RO and Maestro

Order · 12 November 2025 · Romania

Use of criminal evidence in deduction disputes after proceedings against directors are discontinued

By reasoned order under Article 99, the Court held that the national court must verify that the substantive and formal conditions for deduction are met and may, to that end, examine evidence obtained in earlier criminal proceedings against persons distinct from the taxable person, provided the rights guaranteed by EU law, notably equality of arms and the rights of the defence, are respected. Discontinuance of those proceedings is irrelevant. The ne bis in idem question was inadmissible. Directors are not the same person as the company. The legal certainty limb was inadmissible for inadequate reasons. Confirms that a discontinued or time-barred criminal case against directors gives a company no immunity in the parallel VAT assessment.

C-709/22 Syndyk Masy Upadłości A

Judgment · 12 September 2024 · Poland

Blocked VAT account under the split payment mechanism in insolvency

The restriction is compatible with Articles 273 and 395 and the implementing decision. No provision of the Directive imposes obligations on Member States as to split payment, and the mechanism is not a derogation from Article 206. VAT is not paid to the State early, and the funds remain usable to pay suppliers' VAT and State liabilities, so there is no absolute blocking and no excess pre-financing. The Charter and TEU questions were inadmissible. Payment of municipal property tax is not governed by the Directive. Confirms that Polish split payment survives EU scrutiny, including where the account holder has ceased trading and is in insolvency.

C-617/10 Åkerberg Fransson

Judgment · 26 February 2013

When enforcing VAT brings a national penalty regime within the Charter

The Court held that the Charter applies. Tax penalties and criminal proceedings for false VAT declarations are an implementation of EU law, because Articles 2, 250(1) and 273 of the VAT Directive and Article 325 TFEU oblige Member States to take all measures to ensure collection of VAT in full and to counter fraud, and VAT revenue forms part of the Union's own resources. It is irrelevant that the national rules were not adopted to transpose the directive. On the merits, Article 50 does not preclude successive tax and criminal penalties for the same acts provided the first penalty is not criminal in nature, which is for the national court to determine. EU law does not govern the relations between the Convention and national legal systems. EU law precludes a judicial practice conditioning the duty to disapply a provision contrary to the Charter on the infringement being clear from the Charter's text or case law. The judgment fixes the point at which a national penalty regime enters the field of application of the Charter in tax matters.