On 3 June 2026, the EU General Court ruled in Case T-198/25 that a Member State may limit the correction of improperly invoiced VAT once a period has been closed by a tax inspection.
The case
A Hungarian company rented out returnable crates and containers, including to fruit producers, under a deposit system. In rulings of 1 June 2015, the tax authority said that the deposit fees fell outside VAT. An inspection that started on 12 December 2017 was closed on 19 July 2018 with no VAT findings, and that decision became final. On 13 November 2020, the company asked for a new inspection in order to correct VAT it had invoiced. Under Hungarian law, that requires a new fact or circumstance. The authority found none.
The ruling
EU law does not preclude such a rule, even where there is no risk of any loss of tax revenue, as long as the business can actually exercise its right to adjust for a reasonable period.
The company had more than two and a half years before the inspection to file a self-correction. It could also submit corrected invoices during the inspection, or challenge the closing decision. In total, it had more than three years, which is in principle reasonable. The large number of invoices did not change that.
That the general limitation period had not yet expired was no answer. National law may add procedural rules to that period. Fiscal neutrality does not let a business ignore those rules, as long as they do not make the right practically impossible to exercise.
What to check
- Correct errors before an inspection starts, or during it. Afterwards, the route may be much narrower.
- After a change in your VAT position, such as a new ruling, run through past invoices at once.
- Do not rely on the limitation period alone. Check how an inspection changes your correction route in that Member State.
mr. J. el Khalfioui LL.M.