ECJ Rules VAT Liability Rests with Actual Supplier, Not Designated Partner or Partnership Structure

The ECJ ruled that VAT liability must follow the actual supplier of services, not a “designated partner” under national partnership rules if that partner did not supply the services.
Member States cannot reallocate VAT debts through administrative mechanisms that do not reflect economic reality.
The VAT Directive requires that VAT is owed by the entity that independently supplies the service in its own name and bears the economic risk.
In the case, the branches that contracted with customers and supplied services were the taxable persons, not Česká síť, despite national rules suggesting otherwise.
Internal or contractual arrangements do not override the factual VAT analysis; only the actual supplier is liable for VAT.

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.