Retrieved from 13 June 2013 In its “Fuchs” judgment, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that a private individual who supplies electricity generated by solar panels to the electricity grid is regarded as VAT-registered business. As a result, the VAT on the purchase of the solar panels is deductible. Under the small business scheme (KOR), in most cases no VAT needs to be paid in the years following the purchase of the solar panels, meaning that, on balance, the VAT liability in respect of solar panels usually amounts to a refund of the VAT paid on their purchase.
Naturally, nobody wants to miss out on a tax benefit like this. However, the Tax and Customs Administration soon took the view that VAT on solar panels purchased before the Fuchs ruling would not be refunded. The tax court has since confirmed that this position is in line with (European) case law. However, there are, of course, still situations where the solar panels were purchased shortly before the ruling.
The Zeeland-West-Brabant District Court recently ruled on a case in which the solar panels had been purchased in April 2013. The interested party provided information in July and August 2013 He asked the Tax and Customs Administration how he could claim back the VAT on the solar panels he had purchased, but was told that this had not yet been clarified. Eventually, he submitted an application on 10 October 2013 the start-up form received from the Tax and Customs Administration, in and on 13 November 2013 the VAT return issued in response to this, in which he naturally requested a VAT refund. That request was refused by the Tax and Customs Administration on the grounds that the interested party had, prior to 1 August 2013 as a VAT-registered business, should have reported.
The Court has ruled that the application for a VAT refund must be submitted within three months of the end of the quarter to which it relates. The solar panels were purchased in the second quarter of 2013, so that the refund claim before 1 October 2013 had to be submitted. The application, submitted on 10 October 2013, was therefore late; however, as the interested party had attempted to exercise his right to deduct VAT in good time, the Court did not hold this against him and granted the requested refund after all. According to the court, the Tax and Customs Administration’s conduct led to a systematic and unlawful obstruction of the right to deduct VAT.