Request for re-fund of French VAT reported in US dollars on invoices

By Michel Guichard, Odile Courjon, Bertrand Jeannin, William Stemmer, Nicolas Kazandjian, Anne Gerometta, Vanessa Irigoyen, Marie Manuelli, Delphine Nicault, Mélanie Michenot / 28 March 2016

Société Computacenter (Administrative Court of Montreuil, 16 February 2016, n°1503203)

The French tax authorities rejected a claim for a VAT refund filed by a company concerning invoices on which French VAT was reported in US dollars.

The Court restated that, in principle, the amount of VAT payable must be reported on invoices in the national currency of the EU Member State where the supply takes place, i.e in euros in the present case, otherwise the rejection of the VAT refund claim would be justified.

However, the Court noted that the company provided a conversion table (US dollars/euros) for all the VAT amounts for which a refund was requested, the accuracy of which was not challenged by the tax authorities. The Court therefore concluded that the tax authorities were able to determine the extent of the company’s right to reimbursement.

This decision seems to temper the position established in the Société Eye Shelter judgement of 10 July 2015 of the same court.