39As for the risk of abuse referred to by the German Government, it should be recalled that Article 4 of the Sixth Directive does not preclude the tax authority from requiring objective evidence in support of the declared intention to commence economic activities giving rise to taxable transactions. In that context, it is important to state that a taxable person acquires that status definitively only if he made the declaration of intention to begin the envisaged economic activities in good faith. In cases of fraud or abuse, in which, for example, the person concerned, on the pretext of intending to pursue a particular economic activity, in fact sought to acquire as his private assets goods in respect of which a deduction could be made, the tax authority may claim repayment of the sums retroactively on the ground that those deductions were made on the basis of false declarations (Rompelman, paragraph 24; INZO, paragraphs 23 and 24; Gabalfrisa, paragraph 46).
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