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On November 25, 2021, on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the judgment of the Court in Case C- 334/20 Amper Metal Kft. versus Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal Fellebbviteli Igazgatósága ((Resources Directorate of the National Tax and Customs Authority, Hungary) (ECLI:EU:C:2021:961), was published.

 

The questions referred for a preliminary ruling

1   Must, or may, Article 168(a) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (‘the VAT Directive’) be interpreted as meaning that, under the said provision, in view of its use of the expression ‘are used’, the right to deduct VAT cannot be refused in respect of a transaction that falls within the scope of the VAT Directive on the grounds that, in the opinion of the tax authorities, the service provided by the person issuing the invoice in the course of a transaction between independent parties is not ‘beneficial’ to the taxable activities of the recipient of the invoice, in that:

- the value of the service (advertising) provided by the person issuing the invoice is disproportionate to the benefit (sales revenue/increase in sales revenue) which the service generates for the recipient; or

- the said service (advertising) has not generated any sales revenue for the recipient?

2   Must, or may, Article 168(a) of the VAT Directive be interpreted as meaning that, under this provision, the right to deduct VAT may be refused in respect of a transaction that falls within the scope of the VAT Directive on the grounds that, in the opinion of the tax authorities, the service provided by the person issuing the invoice in the course of a transaction between independent parties is for a disproportionate sum, because the service (advertising) is expensive and the price is excessive in comparison with another service or services?

 

Judgment

Article 168 (a) of Council Directive 2006/112 / EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as meaning that a taxable person may deduct the input value added tax (VAT) paid for advertising services when such provision of services constitutes a transaction subject to VAT, within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive 2006/112, and it presents a direct and immediate link with one or more downstream taxable transactions or with all of the taxable person's economic activity, in respect of his overhead activities, without there being any need to take into account the circumstance that the taxable person price charged for such services would be excessive compared to a reference value defined by the national tax administration or that these services would not have given rise to an increase in the turnover of that taxable person.

 

The full text of the judgment is available here.

 

 

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