Is the supply of services by independent groups of people to their members VAT free without distorting competition? The European Court of Justice has commented on this issue in a request for a preliminary ruling from Spain regarding VAT exemption for municipal cost-sharing schemes. The judgment also has implications for the corresponding German exemption in Section 4 No. 49 of the Value Added Tax Act (VAT Act).
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) had to deal with questions regarding the exemption from import VAT on the re-importation into the EU of goods exempt from customs duties. Specifically, whether the import VAT exemption is accessory to the exemption from customs duties for re-imported goods or if both exemptions are to be applied independently.
In a request for a preliminary ruling from Poland the European Court of Justice commented on the VAT exemption for small consignments of goods of non-commercial nature from third countries and where the recipient is residing in a Member State other than the Member State of importation.
In a recent judgment the Supreme Tax Court decided that flying lessons to obtain a permit for hobby pilots (private pilot license) are not exempt from VAT.
Today, the Council of the EU reached a political agreement on a new directive paving the way for the introduction of an electronic tax certificate for VAT exemptions. The directive will provide for an electronic certificate to replace the existing paper certificate that is used when goods are to be exempt from VAT, for example because they are imported for embassies, international organizations, or armed forces.
In a decision following the request for a preliminary ruling from the Czech Republic the European Court of Justice held that exemption from VAT must be refused if the supplier has not provided evidence that the goods have been supplied to a recipient who is taxable in the other Member State and - taking into account the facts and the evidence provided by the supplier - the information required to verify the taxability of the recipient is missing.
The European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Germany for not properly applying EU rules on exempting private tuition services from VAT as laid out in the VAT Directive and clarified by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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.
Art. 132 (1) (j) VAT Directive also covers teaching units that relate to training, advanced training, or job requalification measures as a VAT exempt service. The narrow standards and requirements set by the ECJ for the tax exemption of school and university teaching in Article 132(1) (i) do not apply here. Accordingly, the Supreme Tax Court held that services provided by a supervisor may be exempt from VAT under Article 132 (1) (j) VAT Directive.
In a recent decision the Supreme Tax Court held that the local knowledge test for aspiring taxi drivers is a VAT-free service. Although the tax office and the court of first instance had ruled otherwise for several reasons, the Supreme Tax Court referred to the overriding EU VAT Directive for its conclusion in the case of dispute.
In a resolution regarding the request for suspension of payment the Supreme Tax Court endorsed the different VAT treatment of terrestrial (physical) gambling versus VAT exempt online gambling. Furthermore, the court held that this unequal treatment is not contrary to the EU principles of fiscal neutrality.
The Muenster Tax Court has ruled that services provided by a self-employed hygiene specialist to geriatric facilities and nursing homes are exempt from VAT under Article 132 (1) (g) of the VAT Directive.
Abandoning its previous case law, the Supreme Tax Court held that sports clubs cannot invoke a general VAT exemption based on the EU VAT Directive. Due to the result of an earlier ruling by the ECJ which was initiated by the Supreme Tax Court, the relevant Article 132(1)(m) of the VAT Directive 2006/112 does not a priori extend to all sports-related services provided by nonprofit organizations.
The Supreme Tax Court held that expert reports (appraisals) on the care and support needs of patients in order to determine the extent of their entitlement to medical care on behalf of the Medical Service of the Health Insurance (“MDK”) are not exempt from VAT under national law. A tax exemption under EU law is also not possible according to an earlier ECJ judgement pertaining to the case in dispute.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that the supply of heat by a homeowners' association to its members, the residential property owners, is subject to VAT. Accordingly, the proportionate input VAT allocable to the acquisition and operation costs of the heat generating power plant will be deductible. The case was referred to the ECJ by the Lower Tax Court of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The ECJ held that Article 132(1)(m) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC exempting ‘the supply of certain services closely linked to the practice of sport or physical education’ is not being of direct effect and cannot be directly invoked before the national (local) courts. It is for the national court to determine in detail what kind of services provided by sports clubs are exempt from VAT.
Services are provided to a bank operating automated teller machines (ATMs) which consist of setting up and maintaining these machines, replenishing them with cash and equipping them with hardware and software for reading the cash card data, forwarding authorisation requests for cash withdrawals to the bank which issued the cash card used, making the desired cash withdrawal and registering withdrawal transactions are not tax exempt supplies with the meaning of Section 4 No. 8 letter d of the VAT Act. This was the finding of the Supreme Tax Court on 13 November 2019, published on 19 December 2019.
Does an insurance broker, who makes- in addition to his brokerage activities -a brokered insurance product available to an insurance company, provide VAT-exempt services? The Supreme Tax Court considered this doubtful and decided on 5 September 2019 ( V R 58/17), to refer the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling.
The ECJ held that the sale of blood plasma for the manufacture of medicines does not fall under the VAT exemption applicable to supplies of human blood. As a result a deduction of the underlying input VAT relating to the supply of plasma is available.
The finance ministry has decreed that the input tax related to VAT-free sales to NATO forces stationed in Germany remains deductible even if the sale in question would have been VAT-free under other rules.
