The Impact of the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Value Added Tax Legislation
30 July 2026, 16:00
The Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has prepared an informational reference on the impact of judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the legislation of EU Member States and candidate countries in the field of value added tax.
The reference summarises the CJEU’s approaches to the interpretation of certain provisions of Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax. It examines the protection of taxpayers’ rights to deduct and obtain refunds of VAT, the correction of VAT charged incorrectly, the determination of taxable person status, and the application of joint and several liability mechanisms.
Particular attention is given to the principles of fiscal neutrality, proportionality and legal certainty, including the need to ensure a balance between effective tax control and the protection of taxpayers’ rights. The informational reference examines CJEU case law establishing that procedural deficiencies or technical errors should not automatically result in the loss of the right to deduct VAT or receive a VAT refund where the substantive legal conditions for exercising that right have been met.
The reference also outlines the legislative and administrative models for taking CJEU case law into account in national VAT regulation, drawing on the examples of Poland and Germany. It analyses the state of implementation of the relevant provisions of EU law in Ukrainian legislation and identifies prospects for further aligning Ukrainian legislation with the EU acquis, particularly with regard to the legal consequences of technical failures in electronic systems, the improvement of mechanisms for correcting errors and protecting taxpayers’ rights, and the systematic consideration of CJEU judgments in the development, adoption and application of tax legislation.
The full text of the informational reference is available at:
