Senatex Gmbh v Finanzamt Hannover-Nord

In Senatex Gmbh v Finanzamt Hannover-Nord Case C-518/14 (15 September 2016) the CJEU found that the common system of VAT precluded national legislation under which the correction of an invoice could not have retroactive effect.

Senatex ran a wholesale textile business. It had deducted input tax in respect of commission statements issued by its commercial agents and invoices issued by an advertising designer. Following an ‘on-the-spot check’ the German tax authorities had decided to disallow the deductions on the ground that the statements and invoices issued to Senatex had not constituted VAT invoices as they had not contained the supplier’s VAT number. The documents had been rectified but the tax authorities had still issued amended tax notices reducing Senatex’s allowable deductions. They contended that under German law the correction of an invoice could not have retroactive effect to the date of...