- Michael Schütte, a farmer and forestry farmer, purchased wood from suppliers at a VAT rate of 19% and sold it as firewood to his customers at a VAT rate of 7%.
- He declared his sales at a rate of 7% after deducting input tax on purchases at a rate of 19%.
- After legal proceedings, it was ruled that Schütte’s purchases were also subject to the reduced rate of 7%, reducing his input tax deduction.
- The tax authorities imposed additional assessments, but Schütte’s suppliers refused to correct the invoices due to the limitation period.
- Schütte requested the tax authorities to remit the additional VAT, but they rejected the request.
- The ECJ ruled that the recipient of a supply of goods has a direct right to a refund of the VAT wrongly charged, including interest, from the tax authorities if they can no longer claim repayment from their suppliers due to the limitation period and there is a formal possibility for suppliers to claim a refund later.
- If the wrongly levied VAT is not refunded within a reasonable period, default interest must be paid.
Source BTW jurisprudentie
See also
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