CJEU - Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2021

S. 1561. Introduction

Maksu- ja Tolliamet (Estonian Tax and Customs Board, “ETCB”) versus Heavyinstall OÜ (C-420/19) can be described as yet another anecdote on the gulf that separates the principle of mutual trust in theory from its application in practice.

In theory, there is the assumption that Member States subscribe to a pool of shared values and principles that inform and foundationally ground their legal systems. This sameness, or at least similarity, serves as the basis for the principle of mutual trust by which Member States can have confidence that the quality and substance of legal procedures, protections and decision-making in other Member States is not significantly subpar to their own standards or, at the very least, to the standards of the European Union (“EU”). To put it simply, where one Member State has concluded on certain assessments or evaluations, then other Member States should, as a general rule, “trust” those assessments/evaluations to be justified without subjecting them to substantive review or, in some other way, seek to replace said assessments with their own.

In practice, however, Member States can be quite hesitant in applying mutual trust in this way, opting ...