Tax & Legal

In a Swedish request for a preliminary ruling, the ECJ - as an indirect consequence of its “holding case law” - was asked to specify details of determining the minimum assessment basis for VAT and clarify whether actually all of the expenses of the management holding must be included in the basis for that tax.

The payment for a sale of goods is not reduced in case of a 0% financing which was arranged and borne by the seller and which is handled through a bank. The basis of assessment for VAT purposes (tax basis) is still the purchase price agreed with the buyer, even if the invoice states that the seller grants a discount in the amount of the interest.

An ECJ advocate general has suggested that the court should rule that price rebates granted by manufacturing pharmaceutical companies on deliveries of pharmaceutical products to public health insurances and private health insurances must be treated equally for VAT purposes insofar as they both reduce the taxable basis for VAT.