Who is responsible for VAT fraud? We are one step closer to the answer in Poland.

• The spokesperson for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that an employee who used their employer’s data without their knowledge and consent should be responsible for paying VAT on the empty invoices they issued.
• The responsibility for VAT payment also applies to the recipient of the goods if they are involved in fraudulent activities.
• The opinion of Juliane Kokott, the spokesperson for the ECJ, was made public on September 21, 2023, but the court’s ruling has not yet been issued.
• According to Kokott, if a business owner is at fault for improper supervision of an dishonest employee, they should personally pay the VAT on the empty invoices. It is important to determine whether the business owner acted in good faith or shares responsibility for the employee’s actions.
• Good faith is considered to be excluded if the employer was aware of their employee’s actions and did not intervene when they could have. In such cases, the company may be considered the issuer of the invoice under Article 203 of the EU VAT directive.

Source: podatki.gazetaprawna.pl

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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