"Varna Holideis" EOOD v Direktor na Direktsia „Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika“ – Varna pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalnata agentsia za prihodite.
Date: 2018-06-27
18


It follows, in particular, that the Court is not competent to interpret EU Directives relating to VAT where the recovery of taxes at issue in the main proceedings pre-dates the accession of the Member State concerned to the Union (order of 11 May 2017, Exmitiani, C‑286/16, not published, EU:C:2017:368, paragraph 13).
20


In that regard, it should be recalled that, in accordance with Article 63 of the VAT Directive, the chargeable event occurs and the tax becomes chargeable when the goods or the services are supplied (judgment of 7 March 2013, Efir, C‑19/12, not published, EU:C:2013:148, paragraph 31).
23


The right of taxable persons to deduct VAT due or paid on goods purchased and services received as inputs from the VAT which they are liable to pay is a fundamental principle of the common system of VAT established by EU law. As the Court has repeatedly held, the right of deduction provided for in Article 167 et seq. of the VAT Directive is an integral part of the VAT scheme and may not, in principle, be limited. In particular, the right to deduct is exercisable immediately in respect of all taxes charged on input transactions (judgment of 21 March 2018, Volkswagen, C‑533/16, EU:C:2018:204, paragraphs 37 and 39 and the case-law cited).
24


According to Article 167 and the first paragraph of Article 179 of Directive 2006/112, the right to deduct VAT must, in principle, be exercised during the same period as that during which it has arisen, namely once the tax becomes due (judgment of 21 March 2018, Volkswagen, C‑533/16, EU:C:2018:204, paragraph 44).
26


It must be recalled that Articles 184 to 186 of the VAT Directive lay down the conditions under which tax authorities may require adjustments to be made by taxable persons. It is clear from the case-law of the Court that the adjustment mechanism provided for in those articles is an integral part of the VAT deduction scheme established by the VAT Directive. It is intended to enhance the precision of deductions so as to ensure the neutrality of VAT (judgment of 22 February 2018, T‑2, C‑396/16, EU:C:2018:109, paragraph 23).
27


Although, admittedly, the adjustment cannot de facto alter the initial deduction but entails an increase or decrease in the amount of VAT owed by the taxable person in a subsequent tax period (see, to that effect, judgment of 11 April 2018, SEB bankas, C‑532/16, EU:C:2018:228, paragraph 53), the fact remains that the adjustment mechanism is intended to correct deductions made in the past.
29


A joint reading of Articles 184 and 185(1) of the VAT Directive reveals that, where an adjustment proves to be necessary because of the change in one of the factors used to determine the amount to be deducted, the amount of that adjustment must be calculated in such a way that the final amount to be deducted corresponds to that to which the taxable person would have been entitled if that change had been initially taken into account (judgment of 22 February 2018, T‑2, C‑396/16, EU:C:2018:109, paragraph 27).