VAT and Fixed Establishment

The Sixth Value Added Tax (VAT) Directive introduced the concept of the fixed establishment in VAT. For a long time, the criteria for classifying activities as a fixed establishment seemed relatively clear. However the introduction in 2011 of the VAT Implementing Regulation3 (hereinafter the ‘Implementing Regulation’) changed this situation by providing various definitions of the concept. Since then, new European case law on the fixed establishment has arisen, including the judgments in the cases of Welmory, Skandia America Corporation (Skandia) and Le Crédit Lyonnais (LCL). Section 2 of this article first examines the purpose of the fixed establishment and second, analyses the criteria applying in respect of the fixed establishment and the definitions laid down in the Implementing Regulation. Section 3 discusses the judgment in Welmory, while also examining the relationship between the passive and the active fixed establishment. Section 4 looks at the relationship between the head office (also referred to as the ‘main business establishment’) and the fixed establishment, with specific reference to the Skandia case. This section also provides an overview of how the various Member States have chosen to apply the judgment in Skandia. Section 5 considers the LCL case and specifically the right of the head office and the passive fixed establishment to deduct input VAT. Our conclusion is set out in section 6. We should emphasize that this article takes account, in principle, only of European Union (EU) legislation and regulations on VAT, as well as European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law on the subject. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, therefore, no consideration is given to case law of the Member States or local VAT legislation

Van first-sale naar last-sale: het bepalen van de relevante verkooptransactie onder het Douane Wetboek van de Unie

Op 1 mei 2016 is het wetgevingspakket van het Douane Wetboek van de Unie (DWU) toepasselijk geworden. Op het gebied van het bepalen van de douanewaarde, de maatstaf van heffing voor het bepalen van het verschuldigd invoerrecht, is één van de belangrijkste wijzigingen de verschuiving van het first-sale principe naar het last-sale principe. Bij toepassing van de transactiewaarde ter bepaling van de douanewaarde kan door de verschuiving niet langer een eerste of eerdere verkoop voor uitvoer (first-sale principe) worden gebruikt ter vaststelling van de douanewaarde, maar moet worden aangesloten bij de laatste verkoop die heeft plaatsgevonden onmiddellijk voordat de goederen het douanegebied zijn binnengebracht (last-sale principe). Vaak heeft dit tot gevolg dat over een hogere douanewaarde invoerrechten zijn verschuldigd. In deze bijdrage ga ik in op de achtergrond, de houdbaarheid en de toepassing van het last-sale principe

Douanewaarde in een globaliserende wereld

The customs value is the taxable amount to determine the customs debt. The internationally accepted system for determining customs values reflects the economic reality of the 1970s. Economic globalization caused worldwide increases in trade flows, more intensively (inter-firm) transactions, and value of goods is increasingly being determined by intangible rights. As a result the use of the transaction value is under pressure. From a EU law perspective, this PhD research examines to what extent the transaction value of imported goods can still be determined under this system, with a focus on the use for determining customs values in successive sales, inter-firm transactions, and when the value of imported goods is accounted for, at least partially, by intangibles