- ECJ issued a preliminary ruling on Belgian VAT joint and several liability on December 12
- The case involved a beverage wholesaler and retailer facing additional VAT assessments and penalties after a Belgian Tax Authority audit
- The Tax Authority accused the taxpayer of intentionally failing to pay VAT to evade taxes
- ECJ reviewed Article 205 of EU Directive 2006/112 related to VAT
- The court found that Article 205 does not prevent national laws from imposing joint and several VAT liability on those not typically liable for VAT
- Taxable persons can contest their liability by showing they took reasonable steps to avoid participating in tax evasion schemes
- The ruling clarifies the scope of national VAT legislation on joint and several liability and preserves the rights of taxable persons to challenge their involvement in evasion activities
Source: globalvatcompliance.com
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.
