CJEU – Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2015

I. S. 234Introductory Remarks

The cases discussed in Professor van Kesteren’s extensive analysis of recent CJEU rulings on taxable and non-taxable supplies span a wide range of different contexts in terms of both the factual backgrounds and the legal contexts in which the notion of a taxable supply is discussed. The fact scenarios include multi-national entities involved in VAT groups (Skandia America); passenger ‘no shows’ in the airline industry (Air France-KLM); the provision of services (or not) on a continuing basis under a retainer agreement (Asparuhovo Lake Investment Company); the construction of a Baltic mythology recreational/discovery path, accessible by the public free of charge in accordance with an agreement under which the construction was heavily subsidized (Sveda); and the direct loading onto a ship of bunker fuel purchased through an intermediary (Fast Bunkering Klaipèda). It is therefore unsurprising that it is hard to identify a common thread connecting the cases, let alone a cohesive line of reasoning in the judgments. Perhaps the best visual metaphor is of a never-ending jigsaw, the ultimate image of which will comprehensively depict the boundaries between taxable an...