On 7 December 2021 the Council reached agreement on a proposal to update EU rules on rates of value added tax (VAT). The updates ensure member states are treated equally and give them more flexibility to apply reduced and zero VAT rates. The rules will also phase out preferential treatments for environmentally harmful goods.
In a most recent judgment, the Supreme Tax Court held that a method for allocating a standardized total price for a certain product that results in a proportionate sales price for a combination of goods (here: „economical menu” or “best value meal“ in the „system gastronomy“) that is higher than the individual sales price is not appropriate.
The Council of the European Union adopted an amendment to the VAT directive introducing a temporary VAT exemption on importations and on certain supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘buy and donate’ directive will make it easier for the Commission and EU agencies to buy goods and services to distribute them free of charge to member states in the context of the ongoing public health crisis.
In its judgment of 18 December 2019 (XI R 21/18) published on 22 May 2020, the Supreme Tax Court ruled that the granting of a right to purchase goods at a reduced price (in the form of a "membership") constitutes an independent service for VAT purposes and not just a service ancillary to the subsequent sale of goods.
The Supreme Tax Court has held that the mail order provision in the VAT Act cannot be avoided by having the customer formally request the foreign supplier to arrange for transport on his behalf.
A Member State which provides for a reduced tax rate for supplies of firewood according to Article 122 of the VAT Directive may limit its scope to certain categories of supplies of firewood based on the combined nomenclature, provided that the principle of fiscal neutrality is observed. With this decision the European Court of Justice answered a request for a preliminary ruling by the Supreme Tax Court. The latter has now issued its final judgment in the case referred.
Following a request for a preliminary ruling from the German Supreme Tax Court, the ECJ decided that the VAT exemption in connection with the letting of immovable property as provided in Article 135 of the VAT Directive may also apply to the letting of permanently installed equipment and machinery where that letting constitutes a supply ancillary to a principal supply of the lease of a building and if it constitutes from an economic point of view one single supply.
The German Federal Cabinet has released the draft bill on the crisis management package aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.
