• I have been appointed as a director on the Board of Directors of a company. Should I charge VAT?
• Can a taxable person claim VAT if they do not possess a correct VAT invoice?
• What is the VAT treatment for income received for managing the rights of artists? 

The Chelco VAT International Academy fall academic calendar for 2023 commences with a 2-hour webinar analysing in depth 3 interesting VAT court cases from the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ). VAT Court Decisions III is part of the ‘I Rest My Case’ series of online events, which was launched last year with renowned success.

Although we may not agree with all decisions from the Courts, analysing them helps to understand the VAT treatment of transactions covered by the judgments. Given that such decisions are binding for the Cyprus Tax Department, it is important to be aware of the facts, the court’s philosophy and the final conclusion.

The above 3 questions were part of what the ECJ examined in the 3 cases on review.

 The 3 court cases covered in VAT Court Decisions III cover a variety of VAT topics, as follows:

1. ECJ: Zipvit Ltd v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, C-156/20, 13.01.2022
   • Case examined the VAT exemption that exists for supply of postal services in the UK that was incorrectly exempted, and the attempt for the customer to claim back the VAT that would be normally due; 

2. 1 ECJ [pending]: TP v Administration de l’Enregistrement, des Domaines et de la TVA, C-288/22, Opinion of Advocate General Kokott delivered 13.07.2023
   • The judgment of the ECJ is pending but the opinion of AG Kokott has been issued and will be analysed. The case examined whether the services offered by a lawyer for his appointment to the Board of Directors of a company constitute economic activity and should therefore be subject to VAT; 

2.2 Cyprus Department of Taxation, Interpretive Circulars 151 (05.05.2011) & 205 (07.10.2016) 

• • The above question is in practice treated differently across the Member States. The Cyprus Department of Taxation (“DoT”) initially issued IC 151 which addressed in paragraph 6 the matter of the VAT on the services of appointed directors. The position of the DoT was amended through IC 205 issued 5 years later. Yet the VAT treatment is still not clear and differs across the District Offices. We will review the position of the DoT in light of the AG Opinion;

3. ECJ: UCMR – ADA Asociaţia pentru Drepturi de Autor a Compozitorilor v Asociatia culturala „Suflet de Român“, C-501/19, 21.01.2021
   • Case examined the VAT treatment of author’s economic rights in musical works, managed by a collective management organization being the sole body responsible in Romania for collecting royalties for the public performance of such works at concerts, shows and entertainment events;

The webinar is targeted towards VAT professionals, VAT advisors, tax lawyers, accountants of all levels, CFOs, Chief Accountants, auditors, VAT Department officers, et al.

The webinar carries 2 CPDs and will be conducted in English.