Comments on ECJ C-83/23: EU Court rules on non-refundable VAT in cross-border yacht sale case

In case C-83/23 H GmbH, the EU Court of Justice ruled that the German tax authorities are not required to refund the VAT paid by the buyer to the supplier, as the tax had already been refunded to the supplier.
The case involved the sale of new boats with a leasing agreement between KG (now H) and E-GmbH in Germany.
The boats were purchased from an Italian company without VAT, as it was considered an intra-community transaction.
It was later discovered that the boats were in Italian territory at the time of sale, making them subject to Italian VAT.
The German VAT incorrectly applied was not deductible.
E-GmbH went bankrupt, and the invoices for the boat sales were reissued without German VAT, leading to a refund of the VAT by the German tax authorities.