CJEU - Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2016

1. S. 82Foreword

It is evident that Businesses, when concerned with VAT, are not taxpayers. They act as “tax collectors for the State and in the interest of the public exchequer”. This particular aspect has never been properly addressed. Any litigation concerning VAT can be detrimental to the activity itself. Prevention seems to be the proper method of “resolving disputes”.

2. Introduction

The present state of dispute resolution and dispute prevention under the EU VAT system is not satisfactory, as it does not take into consideration this particular dimension of the taxpayer acting as a tax collector, on behalf of the public exchequer. While all the directives concerning VAT do deal abundantly with obligations to be fulfilled by the taxable person; not a word, not a mention whatsoever is made of the tax collector. This lack of legislation is best illustrated by the double taxation situation.

3. The Double Taxation Situation: the Need for a Procedure

A situation in which double taxation occurs is a sheer violation of the principle of neutrality, which necessarily implies that VAT can only be levied once, on an operation. The present answer to the problem of double taxation from the existing j...