European Court of Justice Issues Preliminary Ruling on VAT for Tooling Regarding Intra-Community Supplies

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Oct. 23 issued a preliminary ruling in Case No. C-234/24, on the VAT treatment of tooling regarding intra-Community supplies. The taxpayer, a Slovakian company that manufactured various vehicle-related parts, purchased components, which were the subject of intra-community supplies, from a Bulgarian-based company. A German-based company with a corporate link to the taxpayer ordered the production of special tools to manufacture the specified components. The taxpayer sought a refund of the Bulgarian VAT paid to the vendor as deductible input VAT. The Bulgarian tax authorities denied the VAT refund, contending that the tooling supply was ...