Sep 19

 

 

 

CJEU expected to judge in Case C-552/15, Commission v Ireland (Freedom to provide services — Registration tax for motor vehicles)

 

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that by levying a full amount of registration tax upon the registration by an Irish resident of a motor vehicle leased or rented in another Member State, without taking account of the duration of the use, where the vehicle is neither intended to be used essentially in Ireland on a permanent basis nor in fact used in that way, and by setting conditions for a refund of this tax which go beyond what is strictly necessary and proportionate, Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

order Ireland to pay the costs.

 

The Opinion of the Advocate General in this case can be found here   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 20

 

 

CJEU expected to judge in joined cases C-215/16, C-216/16, C-220/16, C-221/16, Elecdey Carcelen, Energías Eólicas de Cuenca, Iberenova Promociones, Iberdrola Renovables (Taxation of energy products and electricity – Regional levy on wind power plants (‘canon eólico’))

 

Questions referred

As the ‘support systems’ defined in Article 2(k) of Directive 2009/28/EC, including fiscal stimuli consisting of tax reductions, exemptions and refunds, are envisaged as a means of attaining the renewable energy consumption objectives provided for in the aforementioned Directive 2009/28/EC, are those stimuli or measures to be regarded as mandatory and binding on the Member States, having direct effect in so far as they may be invoked and relied on by the individuals concerned in all kinds of public, judicial and administrative proceedings?

 

Since the list of ‘support systems’ mentioned in the previous question includes fiscal stimulus measures consisting of, ‘but … not restricted to’, tax reductions, exemptions and refunds, are those stimuli to be regarded as specifically including non-taxation, that is to say, the prohibition of any kind of specific and one-off levy, in addition to the general taxes levied on the economic activity and production of electricity, imposed on energy from renewable sources? The following question is also asked in this paragraph: [Similarly], is the general prohibition stated above also considered to include the prohibition of concurrence, double taxation or overlapping of multiple general or one-off taxes charged at different stages of the activity of generating renewable energy, affecting the same chargeable event taxed by the levy on wind power under consideration?

 

If the answer to the previous question is in the negative and it is acknowledged that energy from renewable sources is taxable, for the purposes of the provisions of Article 1(2) of Directive 2008/118/EC, is the term ‘specific purposes’ to be interpreted as meaning that its objective must be exclusive and, furthermore, that the tax on renewable energy must, as regards its structure, be genuinely non-fiscal, and not merely budgetary or revenue-collecting in nature?

 

In accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of Directive 2003/96/EC, which, when referring to the levels of taxation which Member States are to apply to the energy products and electricity takes as its reference the minimum levels prescribed by the Directive, which are understood to be the total of all direct and indirect taxes applied to those products at the time of release for consumption, should that total be understood as excluding from the level of taxation required by the Directive those national taxes which, as regards their structure and specific purposes, are not genuinely non-fiscal, as interpreted according to the reply to the previous question?

 

Is the term ‘charge’ used in Article 13(1)(e) of Directive 2009/28/EC an autonomous concept of European law which is to be interpreted more broadly, as comprehensive and also synonymous with the concept of tax in general?

 

If the answer to the previous question is in the affirmative, the question we raise is the following: May the charges, referred to in the aforementioned Article 13(1)(e), payable by consumers, include only those levies or taxes which are designed to compensate, where appropriate, for the damage caused by the impact [of energy products and electricity] on the environment and seek to make good, using the revenue generated, the damage linked to that adverse impact or effect, but not those taxes or benefits which, applying to non-polluting energy, fulfil a primarily budgetary or tax-collecting purpose?

 

More information with respect to the Opinion of the Advocate General in this case can be found here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 21

 

 

CJEU expected to judge in Case C-326/15, DNB Banka (VAT – Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112/EC - Definition of an ‘independent group of persons’)

 

Questions referred

1. Is it possible for there to be an independent group of persons for the purposes of Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive, when the members of that group are established in separate Member States of the European Union, in which that provision of the Directive has been transposed with different requirements which are not compatible?

 

2. Can a Member State restrict the right of a taxable person to apply the exemption provided for in Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive, when that taxable person has satisfied all the requirements for the application of the exemption in its Member State, but that provision of the Directive has been transposed into the national law of the Member States of other members of the group with restrictions which limit the possibility for taxable persons of other Member States of applying in their own Member State the corresponding exemption from value added tax?

 

3. Is it permissible to apply the exemption in Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive to services in the Member State of the recipient of those services, who is a taxable person for value added tax, when the provider of the services, also a taxable person for value added tax, has applied in another Member State value added tax to those services in accordance with general arrangements, that is, considering that value added tax on those services was payable in the Member State of the recipient of those services, in accordance with Article 196 of the Directive?

 

4. Must the term ‘independent group of persons’, for the purposes of Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive, be taken to mean a separate legal person whose existence has to be proved through a specific agreement creating that independent group of persons?

If the reply to that question is that an independent group of persons need not necessarily be taken to mean a separate entity, is an independent group of persons to be regarded as a group of related undertakings in which, in the course of their usual economic activities, those undertakings provide each other with support services for carrying out their commercial activities, and may the existence of that group be proved through the contracts for services concluded or through documentation on transfer prices?

 

5. Can a Member State restrict the right of a taxable person to apply the value added tax exemption in Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive, when that taxable person has applied an uplift to the transactions, as required under the legislation on direct taxation of the Member State where the taxable person is established?

 

6. Does the exemption in Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive apply to services received from third countries? In other words, where a member of an independent group of persons, as referred to in Article 132(1)(f) of the Directive, provides, within that group, services to other members of the group, can that person be a taxable person from a third country?

 

More information with respect to the Opinion of the Advocate General in this case can be found here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sep 21

 

CJEU expected to judge in Case C-616/15, Commission versus Germany (VAT – Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112/EC - Definition of an ‘independent group of persons’)

 

Form of order sought:

The applicant (the European Commission) claims that the Court should:

Declare that, by restricting, to groups whose members exercise a limited number of professions, the exemption from VAT for the supply by independent groups of persons carrying on an activity which is exempt from VAT, or in relation to which they are not taxable persons, of services to their members for the direct purposes of the exercise of that activity where those groups merely claim from their members exact reimbursement of their share of the joint expenses, the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 132(1)(f) of the VAT directive;

 

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on the following:

 

Germany restricts to certain well-defined professions the exemption from VAT for the supply of services by independent groups of persons carrying on an activity which is exempt from VAT, or in relation to which they are not taxable persons, for the direct purposes of the exercise of that activity. The exemption under the German law on VAT covers solely groups whose members are either doctors or health professionals and hospitals or establishments similar to hospitals.

 

This is incompatible with Article 132(1)(f) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax. Neither the wording, purpose, nor preparatory work leading to the adoption of Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112/EC justifies such a restriction of the exemption from VAT to groups from certain professions. The exemption should, however, apply to groups from all professions provided that they exercise tax-exempt professions.

 

The restriction under the German law on VAT is also not justified by a potential general distortion of competition. This is because, as far as tax exemptions are concerned, the presence or absence of a distortion of competition can only apply with regard to the specific facts of a given case. Distortions of competition cannot be assessed in the abstract for certain professions of a group and services provided in connection with those professions.

 

More information with respect to the Opinion of the Advocate General in this case can be found here

 

 

 

 

Sep 21

 

CJEU expected to judge in C-605/15, Aviva (VAT – Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112/EC - Definition of an ‘independent group of persons’)

 

Questions referred:

·    Is a provision of national law concerning the exemption from VAT of independent groups of persons which does not lay down any criteria or procedures governing the fulfilment of the condition of distortion of competition compatible with Article 132(1)(f) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax in conjunction with Article 131 of the VAT Directive, and also with the principles of effectiveness, of legal certainty and of the protection of legitimate expectations?

·    What criteria should be applied in assessing whether the condition of distortion of competition laid down in Article 132(1)(f) of the VAT Directive is fulfilled?

·    Is the answer to the second question above affected by the fact that the independent group of persons provides the services to members who fall within the jurisdiction of different Member States?

 

More information with respect to the Opinion of the Advocate General in this case can be found here

 

 

 

 

Sep 21

 

CJEU expected to judge in C-441/16, SMS group (VAT – Interpretation of Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Directive 79/1072/EEC, in conjunction with Article 17(2) and (3)(a) of Directive 77/388/EEC)

 

Questions referred:

Must Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Directive 79/1072/EEC, 1 in conjunction with Article 17(2) and (3)(a) of Directive 77/388/EEC, 2 be interpreted as precluding a practice of a national tax administration which considers that there is no objective evidence to confirm the declared intention of the taxable person to use the goods imported in connection with its economic activity in the case where, on the date of the actual importation, the contract for the performance of which the taxable person had purchased and imported the goods was suspended, with the serious risk that the subsequent supply/transaction for which the imported goods were intended would no longer be carried out?

 

Does proof of the subsequent circulation of the imported goods, that is to say, establishment of the fact that the imported goods were actually intended for the taxable transactions of the taxable person, constitute, and if so in what way, an additional condition required for the purposes of refunding VAT, different from those listed in Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 79/1072/EEC and prohibited by Article 6 thereof, or necessary information on the essential condition for refunding relating to the use of the imported goods in connection with taxable transactions, which the tax authority may request under Article 6 thereof?

 

Can Articles 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Directive 79/1072/EEC, in conjunction with Article 17(2) and (3)(a) of Directive 77/388/EEC, be interpreted as meaning that the right to a refund of VAT may be denied in the case where the subsequent transaction planned, in connection with which the imported goods were intended to be used, is no longer carried out? In those circumstances, does the actual intended use of the goods, that is to say, whether they were used in any event, in what way and in which territory, namely in that of the Member State in which the VAT was paid or outside that State, have any relevance?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The schedule above merely contains a selection of events/important dates taking place during the week and should in no way be considered to be complete. It is very well possible that other important events take place during the week that were not included in the schedule above. It is your own responsibility to research other sources to review whether other important events take place that are not included in the schedule above.

 

Furthermore the schedule above is solely based on the information provided as by the respective authorities when the schedule above was drafted. It is your own responsibility to check whether the information included in the schedule above is complete, accurate and correct. International Tax Plaza and/or its owners do not accept any liability if the information provided in the schedule above is incomplete, not accurate and/or incorrect.

 

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