The Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic has started working on the transposition of the EU Council’s Directive and Regulation that substantially amend the terms of cross-border trade in goods within the EU. In case C-647/17 Srf Konsulterna, the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld that in respect of the provision of multiple-day accounting courses for the general public, the place of supply is the venue where the event takes place. For more information, read the March VAT news.
The Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic has started working on the transposition of the EU Council’s Directive and Regulation that substantially amend the terms of cross-border trade in goods within the EU. From January 2020 onwards, new terms should be in place, among others, for the exemption of intracommunity supplies of goods, and for simplifying supplies through consignment stock, and other procedures should apply in assigning transport to chain supplies of goods. In addition, the VAT treatment of advance payments received for a travel service under Section 89 of the VAT Act should be substantially revised. The proposed amendment was submitted for external consultation in March.
In case C-647/17 Srf Konsulterna, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU”) upheld that in respect of the provision of multiple-day accounting courses for the general public (with the participants, however, having to meet certain professional criteria), the place of supply is the venue where the event takes place. The above does not change even if participants register in advance and it is clear that they are all taxable persons. The CJEU’s ruling may modify how the determination of the place of supply of B2B services is treated.
The ruling on Case C‑562/17 Nestrade clearly states that the applicant for a VAT refund may be denied the refund if its application contained certain invoices with incorrect data, if it failed to respond to the Tax Administrator’s call in time and subsequently included the invoices (this time with correct data) again in another separately filed application. The CJEU accentuated the legal certainty principle and did not make it possible to claim a VAT refund if a legally effective ruling has already been issued on the first application.
In Case C-278/18 Sequeira Mesquita, the CJEU ruled on the VAT treatment of leasing agricultural land (vineyards). It addressed the aspects of the substance of a lease, the comprehensiveness of the activities performed by the lessee using the vineyard, the issue of the automated extension of a contract etc, and inferred that the given supply may be exempt from VAT.
As the CJEU inferred in Case C-17/18 Mailat, it is impossible to consider the lease of a business to be a service not subject to tax. If the key portion of the business consists of immovable property, the lease may be exempt (without being entitled to a tax deduction).
The article is part of dReport – March 2019, Tax news; Grants and investment Incentives.
Seminars, webcasts, business breakfasts and other events organized by Deloitte.
