Judgment_paragraph 26 · Stichting Schoonzicht v Staatssecretaris van Financiën (C-791/18)

26The adjustment is an integral part of the VAT deduction scheme established by the VAT Directive and is intended to enhance the precision of VAT deductions so as to ensure tax neutrality, which is a fundamental principle of the common system of VAT put in place by the EU legislature in the field (see, to that effect, judgments of 21 February 2006, Halifax and Others, C‑255/02, EU:C:2006:121, paragraph 92 and the case-law cited, and of 11 April 2018, SEB bankas, C‑532/16, EU:C:2018:228, paragraph 37). In accordance with that principle, transactions effected at an earlier stage continue to give rise to the right to deduct only to the extent that they are used to make supplies subject to VAT. The VAT Directive thus aims to establish a close and direct relationship between the right to deduct input VAT and the use of the goods and services concerned for taxable output transactions (judgment of 18 October 2012, TETS Haskovo, C‑234/11, EU:C:2012:644, paragraphs 30 and 31 and the case-law cited).