Slovak Republic: Decision on Place of VAT Taxation

In a supervisory procedure on application of the reverse change mechanism in case of intra-Community services the German Federal Fiscal Court asked the ECJ to decide the following question: Is a taxable person considered a taxable person established abroad already when the person has established its business abroad, or must the other condition also be met, namely that such person is not residing in Germany? The ECJ decided that the conclusive factor determining the taxable person is the actual seat of the service business (proven by registration) and the existence of a permanent establishment through which the business transactions are carried out. Other elements such as residence of the tax payer or place where he usually lives are taken into account only in the absence of crucial information on the business seat. According to ECJ, in order to consider the taxable person “a taxable person not established in the territory of the country”, it is sufficient that the business seat is located abroad. Therefore in this case he or she may invoice for services provided to a business in another EC country without the VAT and state on the invoice that „the tax debtor is the recipient of the service“ (reverse charge).

Author
Ing. Dorota Kosperová, Manager, ECOVIS LA Partners, Bratislava

If you wish to know more about the court decision and the case under review, please download full document: www.ecovis.com/slovak411