In response to a request for referral by the BFH, the ECJ ruled in its judgment of July 9, 2020, C-374/19, Finanzamt Bad euenahr-Ahrweiler, BStBl II 2022 p. xxx, ruled that Union law does not preclude a national rule under which a taxpayer who has acquired the right to deduct on a pro rata basis the input tax attributable to the construction of a cafeteria intended for use for both taxed and exempt transactions in the annex of a retirement and nursing home operated by him free of VAT, is obliged to correct the original input tax deduction if it has ceased all taxed sales in the premises of this cafeteria, provided that it has continued to make tax-exempt sales in these premises and has thus now used them exclusively for these sales. In its follow-up ruling of October 27, 2020 – V R 20/20 (V R 61/17), BStBl II 2022 p. xxx, the BFH then ruled that in the case of an item that the entrepreneur had initially used for mixed taxable and tax-exempt sales and for which the use for the taxable sales ceased, while the entrepreneur continued the use for the tax-exempt sales, this could lead to an input tax adjustment pursuant to § 15a UStG. In contrast, the mere vacancy without the intention to use the property does not result in a change of circumstances.
Source: bundesfinanzministerium.de
