The VAT Committee referred in Working Paper No 1061 to its previous Working paper No 762 dealing with an aircraft lease, where it was stated that the lessee does not actually bear the (overall) costs of the aircraft, simply the amount of the lease to be paid to the owner.
In the case of importation of an aircraft by the lessee, while the first condition is fulfilled, the second is not, as only the price of the lease and not the costs of the importation of the aircraft are included in the cost of the lessee’s output transaction.
However, the Commission services are aware that some EU Member States are applying a different criterion to these situations, nevertheless granting a right to deduct the import VAT to the lessee. Furthermore, several rulings of the CJEU have addressed situations whereby deduction of the VAT paid is allowed for persons who are not the owner of the goods.
Therefore, the Commission services think that it is now necessary to return to this topic and requested delegations to give their opinion on this matter. Albeit the working paper deals with a specific case of lease of aircraft, developments of the discussions should be monitored as they may be relevant for other types of import transactions as well.
Source: danovky.sk
