A company that has undertaken to mediate a service to someone else, ie the company has a mediation assignment, can mediate the service either in its own name on behalf of another or in another’s name on its behalf. In both cases, there are three parties; the seller of the service, the intermediary and the buyer of the service. The person who mediates a service in his own name is considered to sell the service in question himself, while the person who mediates in someone else’s name provides a mediation service.
In order to assess whether someone mediates a service in their own name , one must first identify what characterizes the specific mediation assignment. What must be taken into account are the objective circumstances in each individual case. It is a matter of intermediation in one’s own name if the intermediary is responsible for the provision of the service to the buyer. In the opinion of the Swedish Tax Agency, an intermediary has VAT liability in respect of VAT if the following conditions are met.
- The intermediary has control over the provision of the service to the buyer.
- The intermediary appears as the buyer’s counterpart.
In order for it to be a matter of intermediation in someone else’s name on its behalf, the intermediary must, in the opinion of the Swedish Tax Agency, do what is necessary for the seller and buyer to be able to conclude an agreement without the intermediary having any interest in the content of the agreement. The assignment that the intermediary has must therefore aim for the seller to provide a service to the buyer.
An intermediary service presupposes that the assignment has a clear connection to the service that the seller must provide to the buyer. However, there is no requirement that this main transaction, ie the seller’s supply to the buyer, must also take place in order for it to be an intermediary service. This may be the case if the main transaction is terminated prematurely. In the assessment of, for example, tax country, it can thus be an intermediary service even if the main transaction does not take place. However, this presupposes that the intermediary can show that the purpose of the assignment has always been that the main transaction should be carried out.
The position replaces the following positions and entails a change in that it may be an intermediary service even if the remuneration is not conditional on one or more main transactions taking place.
- Country of sale – mediation on behalf of another in his name, 2009-12-07, dnr 131 758727-09 / 111 .
- VAT – Mediation or marketing of financial products, 2011-01-26, dnr 131 695702-10 / 111 .
- VAT; Corporate mediation, tax liability, 2011-08-23, dnr 131 569884-11 / 111 .
- Questions due to the Swedish Tax Agency’s position on corporate mediation, 21 February 2012 , no. 131 78171-12 / 111 .
For the latter two positions, the change also consists in the fact that it is the purpose of the assignment that determines whether it is a mediation service and not what the assignment results in.
The position also replaces the position
Mediation when renting out temporary housing, VAT, 2015-10-20, dnr 131 554166-15 / 111 , but does not involve any change in substance.
Source: skatteverket.se
