ECJ Cases: The preliminary ruling on Slovenian VAT exemption rules for intra-community transactions
In Case No. C-664/21, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued a preliminary ruling on March 2, which clarifies the VAT exemption rules for intra-community transactions in Slovenia. The case involved a Swiss company that had supplied cosmetics to customers in Croatia and Romania from a warehouse in Slovenia. As the goods were eventually transported to another EU country, the company claimed a VAT exemption in Slovenia. However, the Slovenian tax authority imposed additional VAT for intra-community transactions, which the Swiss company appealed.
The ruling of the ECJ affirmed that it is not precluded by the EU common system of VAT and its principles of neutrality, effectiveness, and proportionality to have national regulations that forbid the submission of new evidence after the tax inspection stage during an administrative procedure, provided that the measures do not offer less favorable treatment than the ones governing comparable domestic situations and do not make it impractical to exercise the rights given by EU law. The Swiss company had supplied the necessary documentation to obtain the VAT exemption, and the ECJ will now decide whether the Slovenian tax authority’s imposition of additional VAT was justified.
Source: europa.eu
