The invoice is correct, the goods arrived and you paid. Yet the tax office refuses your VAT deduction because, somewhere in the supply chain, the tax never reached the state. Disputes like this are not about a single invoice. They are about what you knew, or should have known, about your business partner and how you checked it before the deal.
We build the defence on the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, under which a deduction can be refused only if the tax office shows that the buyer knew or should have known of the fraud. We reconstruct the deal from choosing the supplier to payment, gather evidence of your due diligence and test whether the tax office relied on specific objective facts or only on general suspicion. We also help companies set up partner checks in advance.
Under the Court of Justice judgment in Cases C-439/04 and C-440/04 (Kittel), a deduction may be refused where it is shown that the taxable person knew or should have known that the transaction was connected with VAT fraud.
Under the judgment in joined Cases C-80/11 and C-142/11, the tax authority cannot require a taxable person to check its supplier beyond normal business practice.
The right to deduct VAT is governed by Sections 49 to 51 of the Slovak VAT Act No. 222/2004. It requires, in particular, an actual supply, use for taxable transactions and a properly issued invoice.
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In a consultation we assess your situation, suggest a way forward and tell you what costs to expect.
€90 incl. VAT, 30 minutes, in person or online
This page is for general information, reflects Slovak law at the time of writing and is not a substitute for advice on your particular matter.
