Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2018:868
Date: 2018-10-25
Language of the case: Slovenian
Court formation: Ninth Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Slovenia

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber), 25 October 2018 Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Exemptions — Exemptions on importation — Importation followed by an intra-Community supply — Prior examination by the competent authorities — Exemption authorisation issued after a prior examination in the light of evidence provided by the taxable importer and supplier — Subsequent examination finds that the substantive conditions had not been met — No obligation for the taxable person to pay the tax a posteriori — Condition — Taxable person’s good faith and compliance with his duty of care — Verification a matter for the national court (Council Directive 2006/112, as amended by Directive 2009/69, Art. 143(1)(d)) Article 143(1)(d) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by Council Directive 2009/69/EC of 25 June 2009, must be interpreted to the effect that, in circumstances where the taxable importer and supplier benefitted from an exemption from import value added tax on the basis of an authorisation issued after a prior examination by the competent customs authorities in the light of the evidence provided by that taxable person, the latter is not required to pay value added tax after the event where it is revealed, during a subsequent examination, that the substantive conditions for the exemption had not been met, except where it is established, in the light of objective evidence, that that taxable person knew, or should have known, that the supplies subsequent to the imports at issue were involved in fraud committed by the customer and that he did not take all reasonable steps in his power to avoid that fraud, which is a matter for the referring court to determine. (see paragraph 49, operative part)