WebMindLicenses Kft. v Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal Kiemelt Adó- és Vám Főigazgatóság

In WebMindLicenses Kft. v Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal Kiemelt Adó- és Vám Főigazgatóság C-419/14 (17 December 2015) the CJEU found that the existence of abusive practices was not necessarily established and set out the power of tax authorities to use information obtained in criminal proceedings.

WebMindLicenses (WML) a Hungarian company had acquired free of charge know-how for the operation of an erotic website. On the same day it had made that know-how available under a licensing agreement to Lalib a company established in Portugal where the VAT rate was lower.

The Hungarian tax authorities had assessed WML to VAT as well as penalties for late payment on the basis that the know-how had in reality not been transferred to Lalib but was in fact exploited by WML in Hungarian territory so that the licensing agreement was an abuse of rights. The...