Comments on C-791/22: Should VAT on the importation of illegal EU cigarettes be paid in the first EU country they reach or in the country where the abuse was detected?

A German court asked about the above issue. The case concerns the taxation of cigarettes smuggled from across the eastern border to Poland, from where they were then resold in the gray economy to a German entity.

It is about a Pole who in September 2012 purchased 43,760 cigarettes at the market in Słubice, bearing only Ukrainian and Belarusian flags. He then transported the cigarettes to Germany without informing customs officials. In turn, in October 2012, he tried to sell them to a buyer from the Brunswick area. During their transfer, he was arrested and the cigarettes were seized and destroyed.

Source MDDP

See also

• C-791/22 (Hauptzollamt Braunschweig) – Questions – Possibility for the tax authorities in Germany to collect import VAT on untaxed in Poland

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