A taxpayer rented out business premises and land subject to VAT. After the tenant went bankrupt, the Province of Limburg held the taxpayer liable for the clean-up costs of the rented site. When the taxpayer failed to act within the given deadline, the province hired a waste processing company to carry out the clean-up. The waste processing company issued invoices (including VAT) to the province, which then recovered the costs from the taxpayer.
The taxpayer claimed the VAT shown on those invoices as input tax, but the tax authorities denied the deduction.
The court ruled that the service (the clean-up) was rendered to the province, not to the taxpayer, because the province was the contracting party and had a legal relationship with the waste company. The fact that the province later passed the costs on to the taxpayer does not make the taxpayer the recipient of the service. Nor can the costs be treated as a disbursement, since the province did not act in the name and for the account of the taxpayer.
Conclusion: The taxpayer is not entitled to deduct the VAT charged on the waste disposal invoices.
Source: uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
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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