Dutch Court Denies VAT Refund on Qatari Federation’s Competition Horse, Awards Damages for Delay

• A Qatari equestrian federation sought to reclaim €172,847 in import VAT for a competition horse brought to the Netherlands.
• The court ruled against the federation, stating there was no direct link between the horse’s import and taxable economic activities.
• The horse was mainly used for Olympic qualification, and such competition participation without direct compensation is not a taxable service under EU law.
• The federation’s main income was from government subsidies, not taxable services, so no VAT deduction was allowed.
• The court awarded the federation €500 in damages and €226.75 in costs due to a delay in the case’s resolution.

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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