Comments on ECJ Case Case T-646/24: EU Court Confirms VAT Simplification Applies to Four-Party Supply Chains Across Member States

The General Court of the European Union clarified that simplified VAT triangulation applies to four-party supply chains, not just three-party chains.
It is sufficient for the third party to obtain the right to dispose of the goods as owner, even if the goods are delivered directly to a fourth party.
The intermediary’s knowledge of delivery to a fourth party is irrelevant; the scheme aims to avoid VAT registration in the country of arrival.
VAT fraud exceptions apply: the scheme can be denied if the intermediary knew or should have known about fraud.
In the Netherlands, national rules require the third party to be established in the Netherlands for simplified triangulation to apply, which may conflict with EU law.

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.