The plaintiff, FLO VENEER d.o.o., carried out intra-Community supplies of goods from Croatia to Slovenia in the calendar year 2020. The Croatian tax authorities conducted a tax audit in which the physical transport of goods from Croatia to another EU Member State was deemed to have been fulfilled, but individual evidence within the meaning of Article 45a of the VAT Implementation Regulation was incomplete. Article 45a of the VAT Directive can be found in the German VAT Act (UStG) in Sections 17a UStDV <s>ff</s> and includes the so-called ‘Gelangesvermutung’ (presumption of arrival) . Solely on the basis of the incomplete evidence, the Croatian tax authorities denied the zero-rating of the intra-Community supplies of goods.
The ECJ clarified this issue and stated in its ruling of 13 November 2025 that the evidence required under Article 45a of the VAT Directive is merely a presumption rule, but that the tax authorities may also accept other evidence proving that the material requirements for zero-rating are met. The restrictive interpretation of the provision of evidence for intra-Community supplies of goods by the Croatian tax authorities has thus been clearly rejected.
Nevertheless, the facts of the ECJ ruling make it clear that the provision of evidence for zero-rating for intra-Community supplies of goods is considered to be of considerable importance. This is evident from the mere fact that it avoids the effort of having to provide this proof in other ways in the event of incomplete standardised evidence - in cases of doubt in appeal or legal proceedings and retrospectively. In Germany, this has long been possible and established in a proven manner with the confirmation of arrival plus duplicate invoice (Section 17b UStDV). In particular, entrepreneurs should proactively review their documentation in order to avoid points of contention in the context of audits.