Comments on ECJ C-355/22: A national court cannot apply a national provision that maintains the effects of an incompatible provision with the VAT directive

Osteopathie Van Hauwermeiren provides healthcare services.
Following the Belgian Syndicate of Chiropractic’s appeal, the Belgian court invalidated the Belgian law provision that restricted the exemption of VAT for chiropractic or osteopathic services to only specific medical and paramedical professions.
The court ruled that other practitioners with the necessary qualifications to provide medical care of an equivalent standard should also be eligible for the exemption.
However, the court also decided to maintain the effects of the provision for taxable events before October 1, 2019, due to concerns about legal certainty and practical difficulties in reimbursing incorrectly collected VAT.
The European Court of Justice later ruled that a national court cannot apply a national provision that maintains the effects of an incompatible provision with the VAT directive on the grounds of practical difficulties in reimbursing VAT to customers.