BFH Rules: Margin Scheme Denied for Used Car Dealer Due to Lack of Due Diligence

• The BFH ruled that the margin-scheme taxation is at the expense of the taxable person if the requirements of Section 25a of the VAT Act are not proven.
• The plaintiff, a used car dealer, reported sales using the margin scheme but was audited.
• The tax office discovered that the plaintiff purchased vehicles from alleged “private sellers” who were not the last registered owners.
• The plaintiff provided false chassis numbers for some vehicles.
• The tax office denied the margin-scheme taxation and applied standard taxation.
• The BFH dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal.
• The BFH found that the plaintiff could not prove the sellers were private individuals.
• The BFH stated that the plaintiff should have taken reasonable measures to investigate irregularities.
• The BFH concluded that the tax office correctly subjected the transactions to standard taxation.

Source: hub.kpmg.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.

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