Comments on ECJ C-453/22: German tax authorities must reimburse excess VAT due to incorrect rate application

The EU Court of Justice has ruled that a farmer and forester, Michael Schütte, has the right to a refund of wrongly charged VAT, with interest, from the tax authorities.
Schütte bought wood from suppliers who charged the normal VAT rate, while he charged customers a reduced rate.
The suppliers were found to have also applied the reduced rate, leading to a correction of Schütte’s VAT deduction by the German tax authorities.
The suppliers refused to reimburse the excess VAT paid by Schütte and the tax authorities rejected his request for remission.
The EU court ruled that Schütte has a direct right to a refund and that the tax authorities are liable for default interest if the wrongly levied VAT is not refunded within a reasonable period.