Decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille, 18 September 2025
In this case, several horse breeding and training stables had received income subject to VAT. Relying on CJEU case law, they sought reimbursement of the tax that had been incorrectly charged and collected.
The Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille clarified in its ruling that the mere recognition of an incorrect invoice is not sufficient to challenge VAT that has already been charged. No corrective invoices had been issued, nor had any regularisation procedure been undertaken, meaning the VAT initially shown on the invoices remained in place and continued to be deductible by clients, thereby posing a risk of lost tax revenue.
The Court reaffirmed that, under Article 283 of the French Tax Code, VAT stated on an invoice remains due solely because it has been issued. Consequently, a business cannot claim reimbursement or deduction of such tax without first completing the formal correction of the invoices concerned.
This decision reinforces the principle that recovering VAT charged in error requires proper formal regularisation. It serves as a reminder that taxable persons must strictly comply with invoicing and correction obligations to safeguard their right to deduct VAT.
