The concept of a customs debtor in the UCC and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU

Both in the practice of tax disputes and during tax inspections or investigations carried out by the customs authorities, the following question arises quite often: which particular person the customs authorities are entitled to qualify as the debtor and, accordingly, to calculate (to that or another particular person) the additional import taxes. In this article, we will review the provisions of the EU Union Customs Code (UCC) and the relevant case-law of the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), which helps to answer these questions and allows businesses to defend their rights and legitimate interests in disputed situations.