EU-laws are not violated if the statute of limitations for the right to assess tax is suspended indefinitely during judicial reviews.
In the C-615/21. case the EU court examined the Hungarian term of limitation rule. The tax authorities have challenged input VAT deduction of the plaintiff for 2010 and 2011.
The national court re-ordered the second-level procedure, so the procedure dragged on. Thanking to the suspension of the statute of limitations, the tax authority could conduct the procedure again in 2022. In the case, the European Court of Justice stated that the creation of statutes of limitations is entirely the competence of the Member States.
The fact that the term of limitations hanged at the court stage is in line with EU principles. At the same time, there may be a violation of the right to complete the proceedings within a reasonable time, but for this the taxpayer would have to prove that he lost the opportunity to defend himself with the passage of time. However, considering the obligation to keep documents exists until the statute of limitations lasts, this reference is not natural for the taxpayer.
