On 25 February 2015, the Federal Fiscal Court published two pathbreaking decisions regarding the allocation of the transport in chain transactions: XI R 30/13 and XI R 15/14 (see Newsletter 12/2015). In particular, the Court decided that sec. 3.14. para. 8 sentence 2 of the Administrative VAT Guidelines is not fully compatible with the jurisprudence of the ECJ. The allocation of the transport and the place where the right to dispose of the goods is transferred cannot be determined based on who has ordered or carried out the shipment. In its judgement XI R 30/13, the Federal Fiscal Court referred the case back to the Fiscal Court Rheinland-Pfalz because of missing factual determinations. The Fiscal Court redetermined the case and delivered its decision on 31 May 2016 (3 K 1364/15). The result is not surprising. The Fiscal Court followed the guidelines of the Federal Fiscal Court. However, the Court’s reasons for its decision are partly astonishing.
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