Church Acts as VAT Entrepreneur in Land Sale: Court Rules

• X BV bought land from Parochie Y in 2007.
• Y wanted to build a new church and sold part of the land for apartments.
• The sale to X BV was delayed due to economic conditions.
• In 2011, the church burned down and Y removed the remaining buildings and prepared the land for construction.
• The land was delivered to X BV on April 3, 2017, with VAT charged.
• The inspector levied a transfer tax assessment on X BV, claiming Y was not acting as a VAT entrepreneur.
• The court ruled that Y acted as a VAT entrepreneur when selling the land.
• The court found that Y’s actions went beyond managing private assets and were similar to those of a manufacturer, trader, or service provider preparing for a sale.
• The court referred to the Słaby and Kuć case of the European Court of Justice.
• The court ruled that the exemption from double taxation applied to the sale to X BV.
• The transfer tax assessment was annulled.

Source: taxlive.nl

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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