Comments on ECJ C-167/26: Late receipt of an invoice and VAT deduction: a first stress test for the General Court’s new role?

Advocate General Kokott’s Opinion in Case C-167/26 RX addresses when VAT can be deducted if the supply occurs in one period but the invoice is received in the next, even if before the earlier period’s VAT return deadline. She argues that the General Court’s ruling, which allowed deduction in the earlier period, departed from established Court of Justice case law requiring both supply and invoice possession in the same period.
This case is the first VAT-related instance where the Court of Justice is reviewing a preliminary ruling from the General Court, highlighting the new division of responsibilities and the mechanism for the Court of Justice to intervene if there’s a serious risk to the unity or consistency of EU law.
Kokott’s analysis emphasizes that the right to deduct is exercised in the first VAT period where both the VAT is chargeable and the taxable person holds the invoice, asserting that the principles of neutrality and proportionality do not necessitate backdating the deduction to a period when the invoice was not yet available.

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