Comments on ECJ C-278/24: Joint Liability of Corporate Directors for VAT: Preliminary Questions to the ECJ

• Case C-278/24 involves the joint liability of directors of legal entities for VAT.
• The European Court of Justice (ECJ) addressed the case on June 7, 2024.
• PK was the director of the company E Sp. between 2014 and 2017.
• In 2022, the Polish tax authority held PK jointly liable for the company’s VAT arrears from May to August 2017.
• PK appealed the tax authority’s decision to the referring court.
• According to Article 273 of the VAT Directive, member states have discretion within EU law to ensure full VAT collection.
• In Poland, the joint liability of company directors is considered a strict liability under national law.
• The referring court suggested this might conflict with various fundamental rights and the principle of proportionality.
• The only way for PK to avoid liability was to file for bankruptcy, which the referring court argued could violate property rights.
• The referring court posed three preliminary questions to the ECJ regarding this issue.

Source: nlfiscaal.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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