Case C-122/23,  Legafact: Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 11 April 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad – Bulgaria) – Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalnata agentsia za prihodite v ‘Legafact’ EOOD (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common system of value added tax (VAT) – Directive 2006/112/EC – Turnover taxes – Special scheme for small enterprises – Annual turnover – Difference in treatment between taxable persons – National legislation imposing VAT on a person in the event of late submission of an application for registration – Punitive nature)
Date: 2024-04-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, administrative sanction, debt, equal treatment, principle of proportionality, small business, tax exemption, tax law, taxpayer, turnover








C_202403287EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/3287


3.6.2024






Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 11 April 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad – Bulgaria) – Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalnata agentsia za prihodite v ‘Legafact’ EOOD


(Case C-122/23,
                (1)
Legafact)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Common system of value added tax (VAT) - Directive 2006/112/EC - Turnover taxes - Special scheme for small enterprises - Annual turnover - Difference in treatment between taxable persons - National legislation imposing VAT on a person in the event of late submission of an application for registration - Punitive nature)
(C/2024/3287)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Varhoven administrativen sad

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant on a point of law: Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalnata agentsia za prihodite

Respondent on a point of law:
            ‘Legafact’ EOOD

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by Council Directive 2009/162/EU of 22 December 2009,
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, adopted by a Member State pursuant to Article 287 of that directive, as amended, which makes entitlement to the value added tax (VAT) exemption provided for in that directive, as amended, for small enterprises subject to the condition that the taxable person whose annual turnover or turnover measured during a period of two consecutive months exceeds the amount specified for that Member State in that provision must lodge an application for VAT registration within a prescribed period.










2.


Directive 2006/112, as amended by Directive 2009/162,
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which provides that a failure by a taxable person to fulfil the obligation to lodge an application for value added tax (VAT) registration within the time limits, in the cases referred to in paragraph 1 of this operative part, results in the incurrence of a tax debt, provided that that legislation, if and in so far as it is not limited to recovering VAT on transactions carried out during the period in which that tax would have been charged if the taxable person had fulfilled his or her obligation to register for VAT within the time limits, complies with the principle of effectiveness in countering infringements of harmonised VAT rules and satisfies the proportionality requirements, in accordance with the case-law of the Court.






(1)  
            OJ C 173, 15.5.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3287/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)