Court: Administrative Court (VwGH)
- Facts: The appellant, W, owned rental properties managed by T W GmbH, which was run by her son, C. During the years 2009 to 2012, maintenance and repair work was carried out, and VAT was claimed on invoices from several companies. However, these invoices were found to be fictitious, as the services were actually provided by undeclared workers, and the appellant’s employee, R, knowingly engaged in this VAT evasion.
- Issue: The central issue was whether W could claim input tax deductions based on invoices for services that were never actually provided by the companies listed, and whether she had sufficient knowledge of the fraudulent activities to justify denying the input tax deductions.
- Decision: The Administrative Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the Federal Finance Court’s ruling that the input tax deductions were not permitted due to the invoices being fictitious and related to VAT evasion. The court emphasized that W, through her management company, should have known about the fraudulent activities and that the conditions for valid input tax deductions were not met.
Source ris.bka.gv.at
