Summary
- The VwGH (22 April 2026, Ra 2023/15/0102) confirms: if the middle trader in a cross-border chain transaction uses an Austrian VAT ID number towards its Austrian supplier — although the goods are dispatched to another Member State — a fictitious intra-Community acquisition without input VAT deduction right is triggered in Austria under Art. 3(8) second sentence of the Austrian VAT Act.
- The fictitious acquisition taxation in Austria only ceases when the acquirer demonstrates that he has taxed the acquisition in the actual Member State of destination (Art. 41 of the VAT Directive).
- A VAT liability based on invoicing (§ 11(12) UStG) at the supplier’s level does not exclude the double acquisition at the acquirer’s level — both legal consequences can coexist.
Article
With its decision Ra 2023/15/0102 of 22 April 2026 (and the parallel case Ra 2023/15/0003), the VwGH has clarified a question of double acquisition in chain transactions that has been disputed for years. In the specific case, a Belgian company (B) purchased goods from an Austrian supplier (A) and, as part of a chain transaction, resold them to customers in the rest of the Community (C). The Belgian acquirer used its Austrian VAT ID number towards A; the goods were shipped directly from A to C.
The VwGH confirms — citing the General Court’s judgment T-638/24 of 25 February 2026 — that in such a constellation a double acquisition in Austria exists as long as the acquirer cannot prove that he has taxed the acquisition in the actual country of destination. This fictitious acquisition VAT does not entitle to input VAT deduction, as the intra-Community VAT system would otherwise lose its steering function.
Particularly relevant: even if the Austrian supplier incorrectly invoices VAT and thereby triggers a VAT liability based on invoicing (§ 11(12) UStG), this does not exclude the double acquisition. Liability based on invoicing and fictitious intra-Community acquisition do not exclude each other. Furthermore, no input VAT deduction is available from the incorrectly invoiced VAT.
Practical relevance: Businesses involved in chain transactions must carefully check which VAT ID they communicate. Using a “wrong” VAT ID from the dispatch country leads to liquidity disadvantages and administrative burdens, which can only be eliminated by proving taxation in the actual destination country. The case relates to the period before the Quick Fixes (1 January 2020) entered into force — since then, the correct VAT ID is also a substantive condition for the VAT exemption of the intra-Community supply.
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