In the first part of this article, the authors provided an overview of the Blackrock case. In the second part of this article, the authors consider the DBKAG case and reflect on the impact that these decisions have on businesses in the short and mid-term. 2.2 Is the supply of a specific software capable of…
In this article, which is divided in two parts, the authors consider two judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in respect of the VAT exemption for the management of funds. In particular, the authors examine how these judgments deal with the issue of digitalisation and outsourcing. Part 1 of this…
The Trade Agreement between the EU and the UK rules out any direct effect. However, the Trade Agreement could have an indirect effect. EU Member States should interpret the capital ownership provisions in their bilateral tax treaties with the UK in line with the Trade Agreement and its provision on national treatment. On the basis…
Introduction The first part of my reflections on case C-77/19 Kaplan International Colleges UK (further referred to as Kaplan) concerned the relationship between membership in a VAT group on the one hand and a cost-sharing group on the other. In this article, I will comment on the questions referred to the CJEU, which the Court…
On 18 November 2020, the CJEU delivered its judgment in case C-77/19 Kaplan International Colleges UK[1] (I will further refer to it as Kaplan). The questions which had been referred by the UK national court in the case had raised hopes that the CJEU would provide important clarifications as to the geographical scope of application…
On 4 March 2021, the CJEU issued a ruling on Frenetikexito (Case C-581/19) that is bound to throw Portuguese gym-goers off-balance. For some time, the Portuguese tax authorities have been assessing VAT on nutrition counselling provided by fitness studios on the basis such services are dependent and ancillary to fitness training. In a series of…
Introduction Article 11 of the VAT Directive allows EU Member States (MS) to regard as a single taxable person a group of persons established in their territory who, while legally independent, ‘are closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links’. The lack of further specification about how this provision should be interpreted…
The Champions League is back in town and tonight, its iconic hymn echoes through the speakers of Europe’s greatest clubs’ mostly empty stadiums: “Die Meister! Die Besten! Les grandes équipes! The champions!” To my personal delight, I’ve always found football more fun than I found it to be important. Like every year, my favourite and local FC…
Introduction In today’s world, many things have become more intuitive – user interfaces of electronic devices, the way the merchandise is advertised, and how information is delivered. This contention seems to apply to communication in general: we have less time, energy, or resources to absorb information. Therefore, those who provide such information, do it in…
The Italian legislation on excise duties, and in particular Article 24 of Legislative Decree no. 504 of 26 October 1995 (hereinafter, “the Italian Excise Duties Act”) that provides an exemption for fuels used for navigation in general with the carve-out of recreational shipping, has been considered incompatible with EU law by the EU Commission recently….
On 10 July 2020, the Italian Supreme Court (also ‘Court’) issued its decision No. 14756 (‘Decision 14756/2020’, published in H&I 2020/470 with comments by Arginelli and Tenore) dealing, amongst others, with the interpretation of the beneficial owner requirement under the Interest and Royalty Directive (Directive 2003/49/EC; ‘IRD’) and the abuse of the IRD. The case…
State of affairs Over the last two decades, eminent scholars and commentators have been highlighting the numerous issues arising from the current regime governing insurance and financial services as laid down in Article 135, 1, (a)-(g) of the Directive 2006/112/EC (“VAT directive“). From the lack of competitiveness of EU financial services businesses versus US counterparts…
One function of the law is to regulate human behaviour. An instrument to reach this goal is to impose sanctions for undesirable behaviour on persons who are responsible for inadmissible acts. It goes without saying that it should be commonly and clearly known at least: which occurrences are undesirable by the lawgiver; who is responsible…
The Court of Cassation (the Italian Supreme Court), in recent judgment no. 14983 of 15 July 2020, has set forth the principle of law that, as regards excise duties, the omission of a formal compliance requirement (notably, sending a monthly declaration to the Italian Customs Agency) does not preclude the application of a subsidized tax…
