Netto Supermarkt GmbH & Co. OHG v Finanzamt Malchin.
Date: 2008-02-21
18. However, it must be noted that, in the exercise of the powers conferred on them by Community directives, Member States must respect the general principles of law that form part of the Community legal order, which include, in particular, the principles of legal certainty and proportionality and the principle of protection of legitimate expectations (see, to that effect, Joined Cases C-286/94, C-340/95, C-401/95 and C-47/96 Molenheide and Others  [1997] ECR I-7281, paragraphs 45 to 48; Case C-384/04 Federation of Technological Industries and Others  [2006] ECR I-4191, paragraph 29; and Joined Cases C-181/04 to C‑183/04 Elmeka  [2006] ECR I-8167, paragraph 31).
19. In particular, as regards the principle of proportionality, the Court has already held that, in accordance with that principle, the Member States must employ means which, whilst enabling them effectively to attain the objectives pursued by their domestic laws, cause the least possible detriment to the objectives and principles laid down by the relevant Community legislation (see Molenheide and Others , paragraph 46, and Case C‑409/04 Teleos and Others  [2007] ECR I-0000, paragraph 52).
20. Therefore, whilst it is legitimate for the measures adopted by the Member State to seek to preserve the rights of the public exchequer as effectively as possible, such measures must not go further than is necessary for that purpose (see, in particular, Molenheide and Others , paragraph 47, and Federation of Technological Industries and Others , paragraph 30).
21. In this respect, it must be noted that, in the field of VAT, suppliers act as tax collectors for the State and in the interest of the public exchequer (see Case C-10/92 Balocchi  [1993] ECR I-5105, paragraph 25). Those suppliers are liable to payment of VAT even though VAT, as a tax on consumption, is ultimately borne by the final consumer (see Case C-475/03 Banca popolare di Cremona  [2006] ECR I-9373, paragraphs 22 and 28).
22. This is why the objective of preventing tax evasion referred to in Article 15 of the Sixth Directive sometimes justifies stringent requirements as regards suppliers’ obligations. However, any sharing of the risk between the supplier and the tax authorities, following fraud committed by a third party, must be compatible with the principle of proportionality ( Teleos and Others , paragraph 58).
23. That will not be the case if a tax regime imposes the entire responsibility for the payment of VAT on suppliers, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the fraud committed by the purchaser (see, to that effect, Teleos and Others , paragraph 58). As the Advocate General has pointed out in point 45 of his Opinion, it would clearly be disproportionate to hold a taxable person liable for the shortfall in tax caused by fraudulent acts of third parties over which he has no influence whatsoever.
24. On the other hand, as the Court has already held, it is not contrary to Community law to require the supplier to take every step which could reasonably be required of him to satisfy himself that the transaction which he is effecting does not result in his participation in tax evasion (see Teleos and Others , paragraph 65, and the case-law cited there).
25. Accordingly, the fact that the supplier acted in good faith, that he took every reasonable measure in his power and that his participation in fraud is excluded are important points in deciding whether that supplier can be obliged to account for the VAT after the event (see Teleos and Others , paragraph 66).
26. Likewise, it would be contrary to the principle of legal certainty if a Member State which has laid down the conditions for the application of the exemption of supplies of goods for export to a destination outside the Community by prescribing, among other things, a list of the documents to be presented to the competent authorities, and which has accepted, initially, the documents presented by the supplier as evidence establishing entitlement to the exemption, could subsequently require that supplier to account for the VAT on that supply, where it transpires that, because of the purchaser’s fraud, of which the supplier had and could have had no knowledge, the conditions for the exemption were in fact not met (see, to that effect, Teleos and Others , paragraph 50).
27. It follows that a supplier must be able to rely on the lawfulness of the transaction that he carries out without risking the loss of his right to exemption from VAT, if, as in the case in the main proceedings, he is in no position to recognise – even by exercising due commercial care – that the conditions for the exemption were in fact not met, because the export proofs provided by the purchaser had been forged.
29. Having regard to all of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred must be that Article 15(2) of the Sixth Directive must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from granting an exemption from VAT on the supply of goods for export to a destination outside the Community where the conditions for such an exemption are not met, but the taxable person was not able to recognise – even by exercising due commercial care – that they were not met, because the export proofs provided by the purchaser had been forged.
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