Questão jurídica principal
Whether the company's aircraft-holding structure constituted tax avoidance justifying denial and clawback of VAT input tax credits.
Decisão extraída
Yes. The interposition of the company was unusual and served only to obtain tax benefits; the tax authorities could disregard it and apply the tax result that would have existed had the shareholder held the aircraft directly.
Fundamentação extraída
The company had no real independent activity or staff, outsourced all aircraft operation to a third party, and functioned as a mere conduit. The shareholder could have obtained the same transport services directly. The arrangement led to a substantial, artificial input tax surplus.