Belgische Staat v Ghent Coal Terminal NV.
Date: 1998-01-15
15 With regard to the first part of this question, the Court has stated repeatedly that the deduction system is meant to relieve the trader entirely of the burden of the VAT payable or paid in the course of all his economic activities. The common system of value added tax consequently ensures that all economic activities, whatever their purpose or results, provided that they are themselves subject to VAT, are taxed in a wholly neutral way (see in particular Case 268/83 Rompelman v Minister van Financiën [1985] ECR 655, paragraph 19, and Case 50/87 Commission v France [1988] ECR 4797, paragraph 15).
16 In the absence of any provision empowering the Member States to limit the right of deduction granted to taxable persons, that right must be exercised immediately in respect of all the taxes charged on transactions relating to inputs.  Such limitations on the right of deduction must be applied in a similar manner in all the Member States and therefore derogations are permitted only in the cases expressly provided for in the Directive (see, in particular, Commission v France, cited above, paragraphs 16 and 17, Case C-97/90 Lennartz v Finanzamt München III [1991] ECR I-3795, paragraph 27, and Case C-62/93 BP Supergas v Greek State [1995] ECR I-1883, paragraph 18).
17 It follows that a taxable person acting as such is entitled to deduct the VAT payable or paid for goods or services supplied to him for the purpose of investment work intended to be used in connection with taxable transactions.
18 With regard, next, to the second part of the question, it follows from paragraph 15 of the judgment in Lennartz, cited above, that the use to which the goods and services are put merely determines the extent of the initial deduction to which the taxable person is entitled under Article 17 and the extent of any adjustments in the course of the following periods.
19 Furthermore, in its judgment in Case C-110/94 INZO v Belgian State [1996] ECR I-857, concerning the position of an undertaking which had never effected any taxable transaction, the Court ruled, at paragraphs 20 and 21, that the right to deduct, once it has arisen, remains acquired even if the planned economic activity has not given rise to taxable transactions.
20 Likewise, the right to deduct remains acquired where the taxable person has been unable to use the goods or services which gave rise to a deduction in the context of taxable transactions by reason of circumstances beyond his control.
21 It also follows from the judgment in INZO (paragraph 24) that in cases of fraud or abuse, in which the person concerned, on the pretext of intending to pursue a particular economic activity, in fact sought to acquire as his private assets goods in respect of which a deduction could be made, the tax authority may claim repayment of the sums retroactively on the ground that those deductions were made on the basis of false declarations.
22 However, when circumstances beyond the control of the taxable person have prevented him from using the goods or services giving rise to deduction for the needs of his taxable transactions, there is no risk of fraud or abuse capable of justifying subsequent repayment.
23 Finally, it must be pointed out that a supply of investment goods during the adjustment period, such as occurred in the main proceedings in this case, may give rise to an adjustment of the deduction under the conditions set out in Article 20(3) of the Directive.