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T. H. J. Verhagen
EC Tax Review
Volume 27, Issue 6 (2018) pp. 335 – 340
https://doi.org/10.54648/ecta2018036
Abstract
This report summarizes the key observations and findings derived during the conference organized by Tilburg University, in collaboration with the University of Antwerp, the University of Bologna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The conference, which was held on 23 February 2018, closed a project co-funded by the European Commission and aimed at enhancing the application of fiscal State aid law by national judges.
Extract
Over the last years, the VAT exemption applicable to transactions concerning payments and transfers has been subject to a strict interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). What constitutes these transactions has been narrowed down by the CJEU to the function of ‘having the effect of transferring funds and entail changes in the legal and financial character’. This has reduced the opportunity for intermediaries in the supply chain to benefit from the exemption. On 21 March 2018, the Advocate General (AG) handed down his Opinion in DPAS Limited (DPAS) (Case C-5/17), whose conclusions appear to potentially narrow down even further any scope for exemption as regards transactions concerning payments or transfers. According to the AG, the exemption should not apply to a provider that ‘only’ instructs banks to transfer sums of money insofar as it constitutes a ‘mere physical, technical or administrative service’ that is not covered by the exemption. In this article, the author analyses the AG Opinion and provides some alternate views in light of previous case law.
EC Tax Review