AG Recommends Supreme Court to Refer VAT Rate Questions on E-Book Sales to EU Court

• Advocate General Ettema advises the Supreme Court to ask preliminary questions about the application of the general VAT rate for e-book delivery.
• X NV operates an online store selling e-books, audiobooks, and subscriptions, disputing the VAT rate difference between physical and digital books.
• Amsterdam Court rules that EU Directive 2018/1713 allows reduced VAT rates for digital books, leaving the decision to the legislator.
• The court rejects X’s claim that e-books fall under the term books in Table I.
• Advocate General Ettema suggests questions regarding the validity of Article 98(2) of the amended VAT Directive in light of equal treatment principles.
• Questions address whether member states can apply reduced VAT rates to publications on physical or electronic media and the justification for differences in VAT application.

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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