In Raiffeisen Leasing (Case C-235/21) (29 September 2022) the CJEU held that a written contract relating to a finance lease could in principle be regarded as a VAT invoice despite not containing all the elements formally required in VAT law. This conclusion was subject to the qualification that the contract must contain all the information necessary for a tax authority to establish whether the substantive conditions for VAT recovery had been satisfied.
A company (RED) owned land and a residential building in Slovenia on the site of which it wanted to construct a new building. RED entered into a sale and leaseback transaction with the taxpayer (RL). This transaction was effected in two parts.
Under one agreement (concluded on 19 November 2007) RED was required to pay monthly lease instalments to RL. RL did not issue and invoice nor did it declare or pay VAT even though a VAT amount was...
