Fundamentals of EU VAT Law 3rd Edition

Fundamentals of EU VAT Law, now in its third edition, is an immensely useful book offering not only an exhaustive description of the current state of EU Value added tax (VAT) law but also an in-depth explanation of the system’s rationale and its legislative provisions. VAT is responsible for generating almost EUR 1200 billion per year in tax revenues across the European Union – revenues that play a huge role in budgetary policymaking in the Member States. This book sheds light on the elements of the system and demonstrates how and why they are linked to each other.

The systematic presentation covers the following issues and topics:

• sources of EU VAT law, including CJEU case law;
• principles underlying the EU VAT system;
• relations among the layers of EU VAT law – primary and secondary EU law, national law;
• how to apply the VAT legislation and case law;
• allocation of taxing rights (place of supply rules),
• invoicing requirements and other administrative obligations;
• exemptions, the taxable amount and the new VAT rates structure;
• the right of deduction of input VAT;
• international supply chain taxation; intra-Community transactions, importation and exportation;
• e-commerce, distance sales rules, platforms and the one-stop-shop mechanism;
• immovable property;
• holding companies and dealings in shares.

The structure of the EU VAT Directive has been followed in this book with additional topical chapters on immovable property, intra-Community transactions, importation and exportation of goods, and shares and other securities.

Delving deep into the meaning and interpretation of the most prominent legislative provisions and court rulings, this book serves as an incomparable guide for practitioners. Its emphasis on the rationale and systematics of the EU VAT system and its abundance of references to case law and literature make this book an indispensable reference for all tax law professionals, including legislators, judges and researchers.