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The Dutch Government intends to renew it tax treaty policy and to draw up a list of low-taxing jurisdictions. In this respect the Dutch Ministry of Finance opened a public consultation on September 25, 2018. The closing date for submitting input is October 22, 2018.

Interest groups, employers' organizations, (international operating) companies, tax advisers, scientists, NGOs and all other interested parties are invited to provide input.

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On September 20, 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-685/16, EV versus Finanzamt Lippstadt, (ECLI:EU:C:2018:743).

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 63 to 65 TFEU.

 

The request has been made in proceedings between EV, a partnership limited by shares governed by German law, and the Finanzamt Lippstadt (Central Tax Office, Lippstadt, Germany; ‘the Tax Office’) concerning trade tax imposed on EV.

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On September 19, 2018 the Austrian Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on 18 September 2018, at the so-called G28 Summit, the Directors-General of the tax administrations of the 28 EU Member States met in Vienna to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by digitalisation and the associated impact on tax collection.

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On September 19, 2018 the European Commission issued a press release announcing that following an in-depth investigation which was launched in December 2015, based on doubts that Luxembourg might have misapplied its Double Taxation Treaty with the United States, the Commission has concluded that Luxembourg's tax treatment of McDonald's Europe Franchising does not violate the Double Taxation Treaty with the United States. On that basis the tax rulings granted to McDonald's do not infringe EU State aid rules.

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On September 18, 2018 the OECD issued a press release announcing that on the same date Saudi Arabia signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI). Therewith Saudi Arabia becomes the 84th jurisdiction to join the Convention.

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On July 3, 2018 the OECD invited interested parties to provide input on a Public Consultation Draft on the transfer pricing aspects of financial transactions (BEPS Actions 8 - 10). Interested parties had until September 7, 2018 to submit their comments.

In total almost 100 institutes and persons submitted comments/provided input. The OECD published these comments and input on September 14, 2018. Due to the fact that well over 900 pages of comments were received the OECD divided the comments received of three documents.

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On September 11, 2018 the Japanese Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on September 10, 2018 the exchange of diplomatic notes between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Russian Federation for entry into force of the Convention between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Russian Federation for the Elimination of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income and the Prevention of Tax Evasion and Avoidance, which was signed on September 7, 2017 (hereafter: the DTA) took place in Vladivostok.

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On September 13, 2018 the OECD released an update of its “Guidance on the Implementation of Country-by-Country Reporting (BEPS Action 13)”. The update is available in the English, French and Spanish.

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On September 13, 2018 the OECD issued a press release announcing that on September 11, 2018 Lithuania deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) and that on September 13, 2018 Israel deposited its instrument of ratification for the MLI.

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On September 12, 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) judged in Case C-69/17, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy România SRL, formerly Gamesa Wind România SRL, versus Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală — Direcţia Generală de Soluţionare a Contestaţiilor, Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală — Direcţia Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili, (ECLI:EU:C:2018:703).

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1), as amended by Council Directive 2010/45/EU of 13 July 2010 (OJ 2010 L 189, p. 1) (‘Directive 2006/112’).

The request has been made in proceedings between Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy România SRL, formerly Gamesa Wind România SRL (‘Gamesa’), and the Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală — Direcţia Generală de Soluţionare a Contestaţiilor (National Tax Administration Office — Directorate-General for the settlement of complaints, Romania) and the Agenţia Naţională de Administrare Fiscală — Direcţia Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili (National Tax Administration Office — Directorate-General for the Administration of Large-scale Taxpayers, Romania), concerning Gamesa’s right to deduct value added tax (VAT) paid on acquisitions made during a period in which its VAT identification number was inoperative.

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On September 5, 2018 on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the opinion of Advocate General Bobek in the Case C-552/17, Alpenchalets Resorts GmbH versus Finanzamt München Abteilung Körperschaften (ECLI:EU:C:2018:665) was published.

Alpenchalets Resorts GmbH rents houses from their owners and then lets them for holiday purposes to its customers. On arrival, the owners or their agents provide further services to the individual customers, such as cleaning of the accommodation and, in some cases, a laundry and ‘bread roll’ service.

 

Does this qualify as a ‘service provided by a travel agent’ for the purposes of Directive 2006/112/EC (‘the VAT Directive’)? That issue is currently pending before the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Finance Court, Germany), which wishes to know whether the service in question can be classified as a service provided by a travel agent, and if it can, whether the reduced rate of taxation should apply on the taxable amount (the margin) regarding the accommodation component of the service provided.

 

The present preliminary reference invites the Court to be specific with regard to what constitutes a ‘service provided by a travel agent’, considering that a travel agent’s supply typically consists of multiple services (such as accommodation and transport). It also invites the Court to examine the interplay between two specific value added tax (VAT) regimes, one concerning the taxable amount (margin), and the other, the reduced rate of VAT.

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On September 5, 2018 on the website of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the opinion of Advocate General Bobek in the Case C-422/17, Szef Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej versus Skarpa Travel sp. z o.o. w Krakowie (ECLI:EU:C:2018:667) was published.

Skarpa Travel sp. z o.o. w Krakowie (‘Skarpa’) is a travel agent. Skarpa receives payments on account from its customers which may cover up to 100% of the price that they are required to pay. According to the general provisions of EU rules on value added tax (VAT), when payments on account are made before services are actually supplied, VAT becomes chargeable upon such payment, and on the amount received.

 

At the same time, Skarpa’s services are subject to VAT rules provided for under the special scheme for travel agents. Under this scheme, Skarpa charges VAT on its margin. However, Skarpa’s final margin is still unknown when payments on account are received: the exact amounts to be paid by Skarpa to its suppliers may not yet be fixed or may be subject to change.

 

Skarpa and the national tax authority disagree as to the exact moment VAT for travel services becomes chargeable. Skarpa takes the view that VAT becomes chargeable when the margin becomes definitely known. The Minister Finansów (Minister for Finance, Poland) considers that VAT is already chargeable when payment on account is made.

 

It is in this context that the Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny (Supreme Administrative Court, Poland) asks, in essence, whether the general rule on chargeability for payments on account applies to services that fall under the special marginscheme for travel agencies. If so, that referring court wishes to know the amount on which VAT should be charged given that the final margin can be only determined after the payments on account are made.

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On September 7 and 8 the EU Ministers of Finance will hold an informal Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council. One of the items on the agenda for this ECOFIN meeting is an exchange of views on the fair taxation of the digital economy. On September 3, 2018 the Dutch Minister of Finance sent a Presidency Issues Note to the Dutch House of Representatives. This Presidency Issues Note was distributed under the participants of the ECOFIN.

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On August 30, 2018 the Dutch Government started a public consultation on reforming the Dutch practice of granting tax rulings with an international character. The Dutch Ministry has invited interested parties to provide input. The closing date for submitting comments is September 20, 2018.

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On October 20, 2016 the OECD released key documents that form the basis of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) peer review and monitoring process under Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan. On October 31, 2016 the OECD announced that the peer reviews will be conducted in 8 batches, with the fourth batch of Stage 1 peer reviews commencing in December 2017. Stage 1 peer reviews of the MAP programmes of Australia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal were conducted during this fourth batch.

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Following the enactment of the New Zealand Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Act earlier this year, on August 27, 2018 the New Zealand Inland Revenue issued draft guidance material meant to help taxpayers comply with the new legislation. The closing date for comments is September 28, 2018.

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On August 24, 2018 the Japanese Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Ecuador will initiate negotiations for a tax convention to be concluded between the two countries.

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On August 23, 2018 the OECD announced that The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) joined the Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Therewith the total number of jurisdictions that have joined the Inclusive Framework on BEPS comes to 117.

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