- The Supreme Court admits an appeal regarding the refund of VAT in contracts terminated due to the supplier’s insolvency.
- Ramos y Ruipérez Hoteles, S.L. requests the Supreme Court to determine if a buyer has the right to directly claim the VAT refund from the Tax Administration when the supplier, in bankruptcy proceedings, has not reimbursed the tax after the termination of the purchase contract.
- In 2006 and 2007, Ramos y Ruipérez Hoteles purchased properties from Construcciones Medina Durán, S.A., paying the VAT charged.
- In 2009, the selling company entered bankruptcy proceedings.
- In 2010, a commercial court terminated the contracts and recognized Ramos y Ruipérez a claim against the estate, which included the VAT incurred.
- In 2013, the company filed a corrective VAT self-assessment, requesting the refund of the tax paid.
- The Tax Administration rejected the request in 2016, arguing that the VAT refund is the responsibility of the supplier and not the Administration.
- The company argues that the principle of VAT neutrality allows the buyer to recover the tax directly from the Administration when the supplier cannot return it.
- The company cites rulings from the CJEU, such as C-35/05 (Reemtsma), C-564/15 (Tibor Farkas) and C-453/22 (Michael Schütte), which recognize the right to claim VAT directly in similar cases.
- The Supreme Court considers that the appeal raises a question of casational interest, as there is no clear jurisprudence on whether:
- The buyer can demand the refund of VAT from the Administration when the supplier, in bankruptcy proceedings, has not reimbursed the tax after the contractual termination.
- The Supreme Court will analyze whether the principles of neutrality and effectiveness of VAT allow this direct refund.
Source: audiconsultores-etlglobal.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.
