Interest in the case of breaches of Union law – an end to the waiting for economic operators?

• As early as 2022, the Hamburg Fiscal Court ruled that interest must be paid on sums of money that have been levied from or withheld from economic operators in breach of Union law.
• The German Federal Fiscal Court has now rejected the appeal against this decision as unfounded. This is likely to be crucial for various suspended proceedings at main customs offices, as they can no longer rely on their previous argument for denying the payment of interest.
• The references for a preliminary ruling to the ECJ dealt with three constellations where sums of money were initially levied or withheld in breach of Union law and then subsequently refunded or granted after the respective court decision, but the main customs offices refused to pay interest to the economic operators.

Source KMLZ

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