On 6 October 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its judgment in the Boehringer case involving Hungary. The judgment highlights that, despite continuous changes, the Hungarian VAT Act still regulates the VAT treatment of discounts and allowances granted by the seller in a manner contrary to community law.
In view of the judgment, pharmaceutical companies might be entitled to a VAT refund under Section 197 of the Act on the Rules of Taxation up to the amount of VAT charged on payments made to the state health insurance fund for social security subsidized medicines. Self-revisions may be submitted for tax returns that have not yet expired within 180 days of the publication of the above judgment. In addition to the VAT refund, the tax authority is obliged to pay interest on the refundable tax at a rate equal to two percentage points of the central bank base rate from the due date of the payment obligation specified in the self-revised returns or, if it is later, from the date of payment of the tax until the submission of the self-revision.
Source Baker & McKenzie
See also
- C-717/19 – Boehringer Ingelheim vs. HU – Reduction of the taxable amount – Agreement between pharmaceutical company and health insurer
- Roadtrip through ECJ Cases – Focus on ”Discounts” (Art. 90)
- Topical overview ECJ Cases – Link to the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC
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