The Court of Cassation, in its ruling n. 18642 deposited on July 3, 2023, confirmed that the right to deduction must be based on substantive requirements, while formal requirements govern only the methods and control of exercising that right. The case in question pertains to the denial of an input VAT credit due to the taxpayer’s failure to submit the annual declaration and present the invoices, citing force majeure events. The Court reiterated that the tax authority cannot demand the repayment of the tax for purely formal reasons if the substantive requirements for VAT deduction are met. It is necessary to verify whether, in the absence of formal requirements such as the failure to submit the annual declaration, the taxpayer can demonstrate that the purchases are documented by invoices, subject to tax, and related to taxable transactions. However, if the taxpayer can prove that they are unable to produce these documents or obtain copies from the suppliers due to circumstances beyond their control, the general rule of evidence by witnesses or presumptions, contrary to the established limits, applies. In the specific case, the Court upheld the legitimacy of the assessment conducted by the Regional Tax Court, as it found the existence of the substantive requirements for the right to deduction based on presumptive evidence derived from the overall documentation provided by the taxpayer for the recognition of the input VAT credit.
Source: eutekne.info
