In Tulica v Agentia Nationala de Administrare Fiscala (C-259/12 and C-250/12 – 7 November 2013) the CJEU had to decide on the correct VAT treatment of disposals of real property in circumstances where the parties had not made any reference to VAT in the sale contracts.
The Romanian tax authorities considered that VAT should be calculated by adding the tax to the price agreed between the parties. This was on the basis that the consideration for VAT purposes is subjective and must therefore be the value actually received by the supplier.
The taxpayers argued that the VAT demanded by the tax authorities could no longer be recovered from the purchaser as that would go beyond the scope of the contract. Consequently the decision of the tax authorities was in breach of the fundamental principle that the tax should be borne by the consumer.
The CJEU accepted that...
