- The Italian Supreme Court held that VAT refund claims by an EU company cannot be denied merely because the company had not yet started active operations or lacked an administrative structure at the time of the purchases.
- A foreign VAT refund under Article 38-bis2 DPR 633/72 requires no fixed establishment in Italy and no taxable Italian operations in the relevant period, with limited exceptions (e.g., reverse charge, certain transport-related exempt/non-taxable services).
- For VAT deduction/refund purposes, the key test is whether the purchases were genuinely connected to the company’s business purposes; actual commencement of business activity is not required.
- In the case, the Court rejected the tax authority’s argument that the Irish company’s recent incorporation, absence of staff/offices, and lack of prior output transactions automatically barred the VAT refund.
Source: eutekne.info
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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