Court Rules Immediate Ownership Transfer Invalidates Zero VAT Rate for Delayed Horse Exports

Court rules that ownership of most horses was transferred directly to buyers.
X BV sold expensive sport horses outside the EU in 2015.
Dispute over whether the zero VAT rate was correctly applied at export.
Inspector claims horses were not delivered at the later export date.
A tax assessment of €560,700 with €105,492 interest was imposed in 2020.
One horse was given as a gift after failing a medical check.
Buyers were registered as owners in the FEI database before export.
X BV cannot prove it cannot recover VAT from buyers, except for the rejected horse.
The rejected horse still valued at €25,000.
Only one horse’s export is accepted as the delivery moment due to quarantine and travel arrangements.
Tax assessment reduced to €518,839.

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.