Insights

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has explained how VAT applies on disposal of goods or provision of services free of charge. This article looks at the recent ECJ decisions and their implications for practice.

On April 18th, 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) delivered a judgment in case C-68/23 (M-GbR vs Finanzamt O) clarifying the VAT treatment of vouchers. These clarifications are welcome since VAT treatment of vouchers is subject to many uncertainties. This applies even after the EU voucher directive came into force on January 1st 2019.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that it is important to identify your sellers or customers, so you can identify if you are entitled to either a VAT deduction on your purchases, or a VAT exemption on your sales. Furthermore, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that a seller is required to identify its customers, to be able to apply a reverse charge on its sales.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently clarified when businesses can start earning interest on VAT refunds delayed by tax authorities.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has decided that organizing live streamed interactive sessions, is not subject to VAT of the country where the event takes place. VAT of a customer country will apply to virtual events and livestreaming from the 1st of January 2025.

Are your head office (HO) and/or fixed establishment (FE) members of a VAT group in the EU? Then the services provided between them will no longer fall outside the scope of VAT as of January 1, 2024. This has major implications for your business! What do you need to know and how can you prepare for this properly?

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) recently decided on the issue of VAT refunds. The ECJ explained under which conditions the buyers of the goods or services can claim undue VAT back directly from the tax authorities. The direct claim may be possible if a seller refuses to correct invoices and pay back VAT charged too much relying on civil law limitations. In addition, a direct claim by a buyer may be possible if national legislation makes it impossible for suppliers to obtain a refund of undue VAT, for example, due to end of statute of limitations periods.

Businesses usually provide goods or services against a payment. However, it sometimes happens that they do things free of charge, for example, to promote their sales or motivate their employees. The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has lately explained how VAT applies to such free supplies of goods or services. This article looks at the VAT aspects of giving goods away free of charge to promote the activities of a business.

What is the VAT deduction when goods are imported into the EU for the purpose of lease? And is the import VAT deductible by the lessee of said goods? The VAT Committee has recently published working papers (number 1061 and number 1064) on this topic. This article offers you the insights and information you need.

This article gives an overview of the latest country developments in e-invoicing and digital reporting. Furthermore, we review the latest EU developments and the reactions to the “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA) proposal. The article concludes with a view on expected further developments in e-invoicing and digital reporting and provides tips on how to prepare for the ViDA and e-invoicing.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has recently further clarified the concept of a fixed establishment (FE) for VAT purposes in its important decision in the case C-333/20 (Cabot Plastics Belgium SA). On 29 June 2023, the CJEU held that a toll manufacturer in Belgium acting under an exclusive contract did not constitute an FE for its affiliated Swiss principal.

On the 17th of May 2023, the European Commission put forward the proposals for the reform of the EU Customs Union (‘EU Customs Reform’) to be implemented step-by-step starting in 2028.

This article focusses on the latest developments in e-invoicing and the European Commission’s “VAT in the Digital Age” proposal (ViDA). More specifically, it looks at responses and assessments of the ViDA from the EU institutions and from the EU Member States (MSs). In addition, the article gives an overview of the latest EU country developments in the e-invoicing and digital reporting. It concludes with a view on the expected further developments.

Our article “Information obligation for online platforms” of 21 July 2022 provided an overview of VAT obligations of platforms and new requirements for platforms to provide information about their sellers (DAC7). In this article, we not only take a look at the proposed EU rules for platforms, but also explain the recent EU Court of Justice (ECJ) decision over VAT liability of platforms. We begin with an high-level overview of the existing VAT rules for platforms.

On 8 December 2022, the European Commission made public its “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA) proposal.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has recently clarified in its important decision in VAT case B (C-696/20)) the applicability of VAT in chain transactions.