Value added tax.
Phelippe Toledo Pires de Oliveira[1] In late February 2022, the Brazilian federal government published a decree slashing the federal tax on manufactured goods (IPI). For those unfamiliar with the country’s taxes, IPI is one of the many VATs levied in Brazil. IPI is levied by the federal government and is often used as an excise…
Territorial connection (or its more fashionable name “nexus”) for tax purposes is expressed in a variety of ways in domestic and international legal instruments. Permanent establishment in article 5 of the Model treaties and “fixed base” in article 14 of the UN Model are central concepts in direct tax subject matter jurisdiction. Fixed establishment The…
The first part of this two-piece article titled “Virtual Activities: EU VAT’s Effort to Recompose the Broken ‘Unity of Action, Time and Place’ – Part I” provided an overview of the new place of supply rules for services relating to virtual activities introduced in the VAT Directive by the compromise text for updates on VAT…
On 7 December 2021, government ministers from European Union (EU) countries gathering at the EU Council agreed on updates of the current rules governing value added tax (VAT) rates for goods and services. The new EU rules on VAT rates represent a long-awaited modernisation of the relevant provisions contained in Annex III to Directive 2006/112/CE…
In a judgment rendered on 5 October 2021 (case 2C_891/2020), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld the decision by the Federal Administrative Court of 18 September 2020 (case A-7028/2018), which had found that the proceeds realized by a Swiss corporate VAT taxpayer from the resale of a position of its own stock (“treasury shares”) did…
Introduction In two previous posts on this blog (1 and 2), the author analyzed the VAT treatment of activities carried out by public entities, particularly public entities that offer radio and television services. Case C-21/20 referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by a Bulgarian court, and in which various aspects…
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…
Back in 2000, computer gaming was revolutionized. Instead of sports games, ego shooters or other genres, people caught an interest in ‘virtual living’. Games offered an extensive life simulation. To an – at that time – unprecedented degree, people could live their lives virtually. Disregarding the why behind what drives players, it is undeniable that…
Much controversial research released by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the end of March 2021 has concluded that the inception of the COVID-19 disease is likely due to a crossover of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from animals to humans. Although not unprecedented as an accident, the chances of viruses crossing over from other species to…
The VAT treatment of the activities carried out by public entities has traditionally been a source of debate. Article 13 of the VAT Directive offers a short and limited regulation of the activities of public entities for VAT purposes. Generally speaking, the activities of public entities acting as such (that is to say: when using…
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…
