Compound interest: Littlewoods
On 12 January 2012 the Advocate General (AG) of the CJEU released her Opinion in Littlewoods v HMRC (Case C-591/10) concerning whether taxpayers who have overpaid VAT imposed contrary to EU law are entitled in addition to repayment of the principal amount of VAT to compound interest rather than only simple interest.
The AG held that where VAT is collected contrary to EU law there is a right under EU law to reimbursement of that VAT and interest. However it is for each Member State to decide whether that interest should be simple interest or compound interest provided the detailed rules of the Member State...