EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 225/55

(Case C-444/12)

2013/C 225/102

Language of the case: Hungarian

Referring court

Fővárosi Törvényszék (Budapest Municipal Court)

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Hardimpex Kft (in liquidation)

Defendant: Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal Kiemelt Ügyek és Adózók Adó Főigazgatósága

Question referred

Must Article 168(a) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax be interpreted as meaning that it precludes a tax authority from refusing a taxable person the right to deduct from the amount of VAT which it owes the amount of VAT paid or to be paid on a supply of goods to it, because an earlier transaction in the chain of supply was irregular under the VAT legislation or because that taxable person can be criticised for having failed to check the origin of the goods featuring in the invoices issued by its supplier, without the tax authority demonstrating to the requisite legal standard that the taxable person knew or should have known of that irregularity?