- The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) ruled on a case regarding process interest for refunded import VAT.
- The court determined that the permissibility of interest on a refund amount depends on the time of the customs debt arising.
- Article 241 of the Customs Code (ZK) does not exclude the payment of process interest for refunded import VAT.
- The defendant’s appeal against the decision of the Hamburg Fiscal Court was dismissed.
- The defendant is responsible for the costs of the appeal proceedings.
- The case involved import VAT assessed in April 2016, which was later refunded to the plaintiff.
- The plaintiff requested process interest from the defendant, which was initially denied.
- The plaintiff filed a lawsuit, and the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, stating that they were entitled to process interest.
- The defendant argued that the Union Customs Code (UZK) supersedes the German Fiscal Code (AO) regarding interest on refunded amounts.
- The defendant claimed that there is no general obligation to pay interest solely based on the existence of a legal claim.
- The defendant argued that the UZK and ZK provide for interest on refunded import duties, but not process interest.
Source: bundesfinanzhof.de
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
