CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2016

1. S. 66Introduction

Efforts to identify appropriate mechanisms for resolving and preventing disputes under the EU VAT may benefit from the recognition that the context in which the disputes arise can significantly influence that determination. In particular, it is important to recognize that some disputes (or potential disputes) arising under the EU VAT concern issues, transactions, and parties that fall wholly within the jurisdiction of the European Union whereas other disputes (or potential disputes) involve issues, transactions, and parties that fall outside the EU’s jurisdictional reach. This paper explores the distinctions between these two contexts and the implications of these distinctions for the appropriate choice of dispute resolution and dispute prevention mechanisms in the respective contexts.

2. Overview of Contextual Distinctions

The fundamental distinction that underlies the discussion in this paper is between rules governing transactions (and, in particular, cross-border transactions) arising among countries generally, including but not limited to Member States of the European Union, and transactions arising among countries that are members of “a group of countries that is...