Prerequisite for the input tax deduction

is the possession of a proper invoice that meets the requirements of §§ 14 and 14a UStG. The requirements include the indication of the full name and address of the supplier and the recipient of the service. The tax authorities do not object if the recipient’s P.O. Box data is given instead of the recipient ‘s address.

After the European Court of Justice

had ruled that it is not necessary for the issuer of the invoice to carry out its economic activity at the address stated in order to be able to deduct input tax, and that it is sufficient if the issuer can be reached at the address stated, the Federal Fiscal Court has adopted this view and changed its case law. Accordingly, the deduction of input tax is also permissible if the supplying entrepreneur only indicates a “mailbox address” in the invoice, under which he can, however, be reached (by post).

In addition, the court pointed out that in cases where the substantive and formal conditions are met, the deduction of input tax may not be denied under EU law if the trader did not know and could not have known that the input transaction in question was involved in a tax evasion committed by its supplier or that a previous or subsequent trader in the supply chain had evaded VAT.