CJEU – Recent Developments in Value Added Tax 2017

S. 233Comments on CJEU Case Law on Taxable Transactions 2017: the anti-abuse doctrine (Cussens) and the sharing economy (UBER)

Marcos Álvarez Suso

1. S. 234Case Cussens – Abusive practices and exemptions for supply of buildings once used for the first time

The prohibition of abusive practices in the VAT world has been a frequent source of debate, especially since it was explicitly formulated for the first time in relation to VAT in the well-known Halifax case.

Although after this first decision of the CJEU, the Court has since issued many others on the same topic, when reading the recent CJEU decision on the Cussens case one might well come to the conclusion that there are many aspects of the application of this principle that have still not been completely clarified.

In a passionate introduction, Advocate General Bobek opining on the Cussens case, says that the Halifax judgment appears to have been embraced with a passion by tax authorities across the Member States (they “fell in love with it”).

The Advocate General also emphasizes, with an unusually funny sense of humour, that in tax matters the true nature of the object of one’s suddenly formed emotional attachments is likely to remain somewhat h...