Roadtrip through ECJ VAT Cases – VAT Cases referring to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU

What is the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?

• See Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter ”the Charter”

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Good to know

• Any citizen of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State has the right to petition the European Parliament (Article 44 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union).
• As an example: European Parliament Petition by Ine Lejeune (Belgian) on VAT exemption on the transportation of exported goods

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ECJ Cases Decided

• C-132/06 (Commission v Italy) – Validity of VAT amnesty
  • Article 10 of the Charter
• C-500/10 (Belvedere Costruzioni) – Lengthy Italian VAT procedures may be settled without a decision on the merits
  • Articles 47, 48(2), 52(3), 53 of the Charter
• C-617/10 (Åkerberg Fransson) – A Member State can impose a tax penalty and a criminal penalty
  • Articles 50 and 51 of the Charter
• C-105/14 (Taricco and Others) – Criminal proceedings concerning offences in relation to VAT
• C-419/14 (WebMindLicenses Kft) – When are Services supplied from a Fixed Establishment
  • Articles 7, 8, 41, 47, 48, 51(1) and 52(1) and (3) of the Charter
• C-543/14 (Ordre des barreaux francophones and germanophone and Others) – Services supplied by lawyers for clients who qualify for legal aid under a national legal aid scheme are not VAT exempted
  • Article 47 of the Charter
• C-217/15 & C-350/15 (Massimo Orsi & Luciano Baldetti) – No prohibition of double punishment of company and director for VAT fraud
  • Article 50 of the Charter
• C-574/15 (Scialdone) – EU law does not preclude a higher financial threshold applicable to VAT related offences
• C-246/16 (Di Maura) – Principle of proportionality must be upheld in the case of bad debts
• C-298/16 (Ispas) – Individuals must have access to information used for the imposition of a VAT assessment
• C-310/16 (Dzivev and Others) – Illegal evidence obtained through wiretaps may not be used in VAT proceedings
  • Article 47(1) and (2) of the Charter
• C-534/16 (BB construct) – Security of €500,000 for VAT registration does not violate EU law
  • Article 16, 21(1), 49(1) and (3), 50 of the Charter
• C-42/17 (MAS and MB vs IT) – In criminal VAT proceedings sometimes national deadlines should be ignored
• C-189/18 (Glencore Agriculture) – Judgment – Powers of tax authorities; Findings of administrative procedures to which the taxable person was not a party
  • Article 47 of the Charter
• ECJ C-97/21(MV-98) – Judgment – Sealing of business premises together with administrative penalty is not proportionate for failing to issue fiscal receipts
  • Article 50 of the Charter

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ECJ Cases Pending

• C-709/22 (Syndyk Masy Upadlosci A) – Questions – Split payment: Transfer funds of the insolvent taxpayer’s VAT account
  • Article 17(1), 51(1), 52(1) of the Charter
• C-605/23 (Ati-19” EOOD) – Questions – Validity of national ‘anti-abuse’ provisions
  • Article 47(1) of the Charter

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For an overview of ECJ cases per article of the EU VAT Directive, click HERE

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