Place of Supply for Warehouse Deliveries in Germany: BFH Decision on Customer Identification Timing

• The BFH ruled that for determining the place of supply in a consignment warehouse scenario, the customer must be identified at the start of transport.
• If the customer is not determined at the beginning of transport, there is no connection between the supply and the transport, and the supply cannot be considered an intra-Community delivery.
• The legal relationship with the customer, including the delivery quantity, must exist at the start of transport to determine the place of supply.
• The court dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal, confirming the tax office’s view that the deliveries were taxable domestic sales, not tax-exempt intra-Community supplies.
• The decision aligns with Article 32 of the VAT Directive and is supported by subsequent legal provisions and CJEU case law.

Source: kpmg.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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