Forum: Order in Skellefteå Industrihus AB: A Reversal of the INZO, Ghent Coal Terminal and Breitsohl Jurisprudence?

Abstract

The Order issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 18 May 2021 in Skellefteå Industrihus AB may have escaped the attention of most VAT scholars and practitioners. In my opinion, however, it is either based on a wrong interpretation of the Court’s case law in the ITH and Stichting Schoonzicht cases, or constitutes nothing less than a reversal of the CJEU landmark INZO and Breitsohl decisions. VAT, right to deduct, principle of neutrality, aborted transactions, change of use, adjustments, immovable property