Direito à dedução do imposto suportado a montante nas holdings

: análise à luz do Acórdão de 12 de Novembro de 2020 contra a AT, C-42/19

Abstract

This is the work on the decision taken in a preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of 12th November 2020, in Sonaecom case. We will argue the right to deduct the input VAT in some consultancy services paid for the propuses of market study commissioned with a view to possible, but not accomplished, acquisitions of shareholdings in other companies. The facts looked like novelity to the portuguese authoritues and therefore the request has been made with the propose of the pronunciation from the European Court about the sense of one operation that is first able to give rise to the right of deduction, is in a second moment able to take away the same right due to its not materialization. We follow the Court’s path where we will begin studing the status of this company as a taxable person, and then evaluate the deduction right within the inptus vat to finally answer the referred question by the portuguese authorities on the not accomplished operation able to give rise to the right of deduction. To the European Court the operator can not be doubted as a taxable person neither can the relation between the paid services and the taxed transations wich means that the right to deduct exists. Due to the principle that VAT should be neutral and the principle of legal certaint said the European Court that once the right to deduct has arisen, it must be retained even if the intended economic activity was not carried out and, therefore, did not give rise to taxed transactions.

Date of Award	8 Jan 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Odete Oliveira (Supervisor)