VAT Liability Arises Despite Insolvency of Payment Agent: BFH Ruling on Pharmacy Case

• In 2020, many pharmacists were affected by the insolvency of the AvP data center, losing a significant portion of their claims.
• The BFH ruled that pharmacists must pay VAT on services rendered, even if the money never reached their accounts.
• If a service provider uses a payment agent, the payment is considered received when it reaches the agent.
• The insolvency of the payment agent does not reduce the VAT basis for the services provided.
• A pharmacist transferred billing to a data center, which collected payments from health insurers until its insolvency.
• The pharmacist’s appeals to adjust VAT due to uncollectible claims were unsuccessful.
• The BFH sees the data center as the payment agent, and payment to it satisfies the claim against insurers.
• VAT is due when payments reach the agent, not when they are transferred to the service provider.
• The BFH’s approach varies between civil law and economic perspectives in different cases.

Source: nwb-experten-blog.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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