Entitlement to input tax refund despite missing formal information

The entitlement to input tax refund exists even if certain formal information is missing in the refund application.

According to the established case law of the European Court of Justice, the basic principle of VAT neutrality requires that the input tax deduction be granted if the substantive requirements are met, even if the entrepreneur has not met certain formal requirements. The Cologne Fiscal Court has therefore clarified that the tax authorities may not deny the claim for input tax refund if formal details such as the VAT ID number or tax number of the supplying entrepreneur are omitted in the attachment to the electronic refund application. In the case of insufficient information in the application, the tax authorities must take the missing data from the invoices submitted with the refund application.