In its recent decision in case C‑746/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union commented on the assessment of VAT refund applications. The specific subject of the dispute was the Slovak company’s request for a refund of VAT paid in Hungary, and in particular the correctness of the procedure of the Hungarian tax administrator.
It follows from the described course of proceedings that the Hungarian tax administrator requested to supplement the request for a VAT refund within a period of one month, but the applicant he didn’t react. The tax administrator therefore stopped the proceedings.
The applicant filed an appeal against the given decision, and provided the required information and evidence in the subsequent proceedings. However, the tax administrator, with reference to Hungarian law and the prohibition of presenting new evidence in the context of appeal proceedings, did not pay attention to these.
The ECJ highlighted the importance of the neutrality of the VAT system when assessing the case, emphasizing that the right to a refund must be met if the substantive requirements are met tax is granted, even in a situation where the VAT refund applicant does not meet certain formal requirements. According to the appointed court, the procedure of the Hungarian tax administrator contradicts not only the basic principle of VAT neutrality, but also the principle of efficiency, in particular by actually combining the effects of preclusion with a one-month period.
Source: pkfapogeo.cz
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.
