CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2024

1. Introduction

Five CJEU cases that deal with the right to deduct input VAT are analyzed and points for discussion are raised in the keynote paper for this session of the 2024 CJEU Conference. Per case, this chapter provides some thoughts and comments on those points for discussion.

2. CJEU, 1 December 2022, C-512/21, Aquila Part Prod

The terms “could have known”, “ought to have known” and “should have known” as used by the CJEU in various cases can indeed have different meanings. “Could” can be considered to be broader than “should” but, on the other hand, “could” and, even more so, “should” can also bear a subjective element in the context that, given the concrete facts and circumstances of the case, a taxpayer “could have known” or “should have known” that he was involved in a fraudulent transaction chain in this particular situation. In that light, “ought” can be considered to be broader in the sense that everyone “ought to have known” that fraud is prohibited under the law. Apart from this, a comparison of some cases in which the CJEU uses these different terms in English shows that it employs one term in the French translation: “savait ou aurait dû savoir”. There does not seem ...