In an invoice issued for the purpose of input VAT deduction, the supplier’s address is not required to be the place of his or her economic activity. This was decided by the German Federal Fiscal Court in two judgments of 21 June 2018 (V R 25/15 and V R 28/16). The German Federal Fiscal Court thus follows the ECJ in the German rulings in Geissel and Butin – C-374/16 and C-375/16. It is sufficient if the supplier can be reached at the given address. It is also sufficient, for example, to provide the address of a law firm which is also the domicile of other companies. Moreover, the fact that there is a domicile address of the supplier does not justify accusations of bad faith on the part of the recipient. Despite VAT fraud in the supply chain, the German Federal Fiscal Court granted input VAT deduction in the proceedings V R 28/16. The tax office is required to prove knowledge of tax evasion or knowledge of facts which should have alerted the recipient to the existence thereof, which was not the case here.
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