In Firma Hans Bühler KG v Finanzamt Graz-Stadt (Case C-580/16) (19 April 2018) the CJEU found that the requirements of the Principal VAT Directive art 141(c) are met where the taxable person is resident and VAT registered in the member state from which the goods are dispatched but uses the VAT registration number of another member state for an intra-community transaction.
Firma Hans Bühler (FHB) was a German limited partnership. It was also registered in Austria where it planned to set up a permanent establishment. It used its Austrian registration number in relation to the following transactions. It bought products from German suppliers and sold them to a Czech customer. The products were dispatched directly from the German suppliers to the Czech final customer. The German suppliers’ invoices stated their German registration number and the Austrian registration number of FHB. FHB in turn sent invoices...
