In a case As the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch recently ruled, the Dutch company X BV transports oil from Slovenia to Italy. When collecting the oil in Slovenia, X BV provides the Slovenian supplier with its Dutch VAT registration number. The reason for this is that there is reportedly a problem with the VAT registration number of the Italian buyer of the oil.
X BV pays VAT on the intra-Community acquisition of the oil and deducts this VAT in its Dutch VAT return in connection with the (intra-Community) onward supply of the oil to the Italian customer. The payment of VAT is justified because this constitutes a so-called ‘number acquisition’. X BV did not actually acquire the goods, but did provide its (Dutch) VAT identification number for the transaction.
However, VAT relating to the acquisition of a number is not deductible, unless it can be demonstrated that VAT was actually paid on the actual acquisition. It is likely that this took place in Italy, but the transport documents do not allow for a conclusion with complete certainty that the goods were actually transported to Italy. X BV did not pay VAT on the acquisition in Italy. Furthermore, X BV has failed to substantiate exactly who the Italian customer is, let alone whether that customer paid VAT on the purchase in Italy.
The Court concludes that the VAT paid in the Netherlands on the purchase of the number is not deductible. Given all the uncertainties, this is a justified decision.