Austrian Court Clarifies VAT Liability on Business Transfers Involving Insolvent Sellers

• The Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance posted a Federal Finance Court decision on unpaid VAT liability for business transfers.
• A taxpayer acquired a restaurant’s business equipment and inventory to continue operations at the same location.
• The transaction involved partial payment due to disputes over ownership and inventory valuation.
• The Tax Office held the taxpayer liable for the seller’s unpaid VAT, viewing the acquisition as a transfer of essential business assets.
• The Federal Finance Court ruled that the transfer met the purpose of liability.
• Another party partially repaid the debt, but this did not eliminate the taxpayer’s liability.
• Tax debts could only be collected through liability as the primary debtor was insolvent.

Source: news.bloombergtax.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.

---

---