23.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 22/9

(Case C-552/16)

(2017/C 022/14)

Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: WIND INNOVATION 1 EOOD, in liquidation

Defendant: Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane I danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ — Sofia

Questions referred

1.Is the second paragraph of Article 176 of Directive 2006/112/ЕC to be interpreted as precluding an amendment to the ZDDS (Law on VAT) as at 1 January 2007, which provides for the compulsory removal of a person from the VAT register, and the loss of the court-appointed liquidator’s right to decide that the legal person whose dissolution has been ordered by a court decision is to continue to be registered under the ZDDS until its deletion from the companies register, and which instead makes dissolution of a commercially active legal person, by reason of liquidation or otherwise, a ground for compulsory removal from the VAT register?

2.Is the second paragraph of Article 176 of Directive 2006/112/ЕC to be interpreted as precluding compulsory removal from the VAT register under an amendment to the ZDDS (Law on VAT) as at 1 January 2007 where, at the time of compulsory removal from the VAT register, the taxable person meets the conditions for compulsory re-registration for VAT, the taxable person is party to current contracts and states that it has not ceased business and continues to carry on an economic activity, and where the taxable person must actually pay the tax calculated and payable upon the compulsory removal in order to retain entitlement to deduct VAT input tax on assets taxed upon removal from the register and available on subsequent registration? If compulsory removal from the register under the circumstances set out is permissible, may entitlement to deduct input tax on assets taxed upon removal from the register, which are available on the subsequent registration for VAT and with which the person effects or will effect taxable transactions, be made dependent on the actual payment of the tax to the exchequer or may the tax calculated upon removal from the register be set off against the amount of tax credit determined on subsequent registration for VAT, in particular where the tax is payable by a person in respect of whom entitlement to deduct input tax arises …?

Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax

OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1.