After seven years of continuous litigation, an American company obtained from the High Court of Cassation and Justice the recognition of the exemption from VAT for an intra-Community supply of goods, which was initially denied by the Craiova Court of Appeal. The importance of the decision rests in the fact that most courts do not usually recognize VAT deductions for intra-Community supplies of goods based on the documents provided by tax law, namely invoices and transport documents.

More specifically, the Craiova Court of Appeal initially held that the company was not entitled to a VAT exemption for the intra-Community supply of goods, although it presented all the documents required by law to that effect (inter alia, legally drawn up invoices and CMR transport documents). Instead, the court relied on other documents and facts not provided by tax law (such as: tachograph charts, explanatory notes of representatives of the transport companies and others), which, in any case, did not illustrate a complete and accurate picture of the company’s operations.

After more than 6 years after the first challenge of the fiscal administrative acts, the High Court of Cassation and Justice quashed the illegal decision of the court of first instance and definitively annulled the fiscal administrative acts challenged by the company, retaining the validity of the arguments presented by Băncilă, Diaconu și Asociații SPRL.

The victory was obtained by a team of lawyers consisting of Magdalena Visalon, Cristina Bighiu, Răzvan Brătilă and led by Emanuel Băncilă and Alex Slujitoru.