- The EU Court of Justice ruled that the VAT Directive does not prevent a board member of a VAT debtor company from being jointly liable for unpaid VAT accrued during their tenure.
- P. K. was the chairman of the board of E. sp z o.o. in Poland from 2014 to 2017, during which the company failed to pay VAT.
- The Polish Tax Administration declared P. K. jointly liable for the unpaid tax debts under Polish Tax Code Article 116.
- P. K. appealed, arguing no fault and that declaring bankruptcy was unnecessary as the state was the only creditor.
- The Polish court questioned the compatibility of the Polish regime with EU law, considering principles like proportionality and legal certainty.
- The EU Court of Justice found the Polish regime compatible with EU law if the administrator can prove diligence and lack of fault for not declaring bankruptcy.
- The ruling is based on Article 273 of the VAT Directive, allowing additional obligations for VAT collection, and principles like proportionality and equality.
- The system allows refuting liability if no fault is proven and ensures no discrimination between administrators based on the number of creditors.
- Legal clarity and property rights are maintained without disproportionate impact on personal assets.
Source: audiconsultores-etlglobal.com
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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