European Value Added Tax
Full course description
This course focuses on EU VAT Law. Therefore, during this course emphasis is put on European VAT legislation (the VAT Directives and the VAT Regulation). A distinctive feature of the course is the special attention that is paid to the CJEU case law in the field of VAT. The course is set-up in a very structured way, using the so-called ‘VAT Determination Scheme’ that is derived from the VAT Directive as guidance.
During this course all aspects relevant for the effectuation of the tax are addressed, such as (but not limited to): What are the characteristics of EU VAT? Who do we tax? What do we tax? Which country is entitled to tax? How much VAT applies to the supply? Can the VAT be deducted? The course outlines the basic concepts of EU VAT, but certain optional VAT regimes will also be discussed (e.g. the VAT grouping regime). The course focuses on cross-border transactions. Special attention is paid to the guiding principles underlying the EU VAT system and to the VAT rules for international supplies of goods and services. The latter particularity of this course entails that topics that predominantly depend on national VAT rules based on optional regimes and derogations (such as the special regimes for travel agents, second hand goods and the VAT regime applicable to immovable property) are only touched upon briefly during this course.
The following instructions are directed to Dutch students from Tilburg University and VU Amsterdam involved in the specialisation ‘Accent Indirect Tax’.
Studenten aan Tilburg University en de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam met interesse in om dit vak toe te voegen aan hun curriculum, dienen zich online te registreren voor het Accent Indirect Tax. Vervolgens zal de coördinator contact met je opnemen om jouw registratie aan Maastricht University en het vak European Value Added Tax af te ronden.
Course objectives
The course aims to familiarize its participants with the European VAT system, taking EU law as the focal point. The basis of the course consists of the VAT legislation – most importantly, the VAT Directive (2006/112/EC). As important as the VAT legislation is the VAT case law of the European Court of Justice (CJEU), which by now consists of over 1.200 rulings. Understanding the value added tax from a European point of view is necessary for understanding the national legislation of the Member States. After completing the course, the participants should:
- understand the legal nature, characteristics, backgrounds, and systematics of the EU VAT system;
- be able to solve real-life cases from a theoretical and practical point of view;
- be able to give - in English - an informed opinion on the case law relevant to the various topics discussed;
- be able to creatively and critically deal with the topics covered by this course, be able to show the points of failure of existing legislation (and/or CJEU case law) and to offer solutions to resolve these issues;
- be able to interpret the national VAT legislation in the context of the EU VAT Directive;
- be able to identify and explain the similarities and differences between European VAT rules and national VAT rules as well as differences in the VAT rules of the various Member States;
- know the commonly used English terminology used in the field of VAT; and
- understand what kind of behaviour is expected from taxpayers and tax authorities in the course of taxation under an indirect, neutral tax as EU VAT.
Prerequisites
- Basic English speaking and writing skills;
- Basic knowledge of European law;
- Basic knowledge of EU VAT Law;
- Students are required to study the book: 'VAT in a Day' prior to the start of the course.
Recommended reading
- Ad van Doesum, Herman van Kesteren, Gert-Jan van Norden and Frank Nellen (2nd edition), ‘Fundamentals of EU VAT Law’, Kluwer Law International, 2020
- Ad van Doesum and Frank Nellen, VAT in a Day, Kappert, Deventer, 2017 (3nd edition; also available as e-book)