- A German ICT company (X GmbH) bought nickel in the Netherlands with the intention to sell it later.
- The question is whether X’s actions regarding the nickel constitute an economic activity within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article 9(1) of the VAT Directive and whether it can deduct the input VAT.
- The Zeeland-West-Brabant Court ruled that the purchase of the nickel is part of X’s working capital management.
- The court concluded that there is a direct and immediate link between working capital management and X’s economic activity.
- Therefore, according to the court, X can deduct the input VAT based on the Supreme Court’s ruling of March 20, 2020.
- The Court of Appeal in Den Bosch reached the same conclusion but on different grounds.
- It ruled that X’s actions regarding the nickel constitute an independent economic activity.
- The input VAT can be deducted because X purchased the nickel with the intention of reselling it.
- The State Secretary argues that the Court of Appeal wrongly concluded that the actions regarding the nickel constitute an economic activity.
- The Advocate General suggests that the Supreme Court should uphold the State Secretary’s appeal and refer the case for further investigation.
- The question of whether the nickel was purchased in the context of the main activity has not been definitively answered.
Source: nlfiscaal.nl
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.
