VAT Recipient Identification: Contract Prevails Over Indirect Economic Benefit

• The French Conseil d’État ruled that, for VAT purposes, contractual terms are the main basis for identifying the service recipient unless objective evidence shows they do not reflect reality.
• It annulled a Paris court ruling that had relied on an indirect “beneficial owner” approach to deny American Express Carte France input VAT deduction.
• The court confirmed that economic reality matters, but a mere indirect economic benefit is not enough to override the contract and operational facts.
• The decision clarifies that, in multinational groups, substance still matters, but contracts remain decisive unless contradicted by evidence.

Source: cyplom.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.

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