In its decision of May 12th, 2021, CS and technoRent International GmbH, C-844/19 , the CJEU held that interest must be paid by the tax authorities on overpaid VAT (Art 90 VAT Directive) as well as on input tax credits (Art 183 VAT Directive) that are not refunded to the taxpayer within a reasonable period of time. While the obligation of the member states to remit interest on late payments of VAT credits that have not been refunded within a reasonable period of time can be derived directly from EU law, the determination of the interest payment modalities falls within the procedural autonomy of the member states. Austrian tax law, however, does not currently provide for interest on VAT credits that have not been refunded within a reasonable period of time. Denise Schmaranzer discusses, in conjunction with previous case law, the requirements the CJEU places on a national interest provision and analyzes whether the German interest provision pursuant to Section 233a of the German Tax Code could (once again) serve as a model for an Austrian provision.
