Summary
- Austria’s Supreme Administrative Court has asked the ECJ whether an Austrian taxable dealer may apply the VAT margin scheme where the German supplier’s application of that scheme may not comply with the VAT Directive.
- The case concerns silver coins supplied from Germany to Austria and the corresponding non-taxation of the Austrian intra-Community acquisition.
- The referring court also asks whether the result is affected where the Austrian dealer neither knew nor could reasonably have known that the German legislation or its application was inconsistent with EU law.
Extended article
The Austrian Supreme Administrative Court has referred questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the cross-border application of the VAT margin scheme.
The case concerns an Austrian taxable dealer that acquired silver coins from a German taxable dealer. The German supplier applied the margin scheme. The dispute concerns whether the Austrian purchaser may consequently treat the intra-Community acquisition as non-taxable and apply the margin scheme to its subsequent domestic supplies.
The first question asks whether the Austrian treatment depends on the German supplier having applied the margin scheme in accordance with the VAT Directive. This raises an important cross-border dependency issue: whether the purchaser can rely on the invoice treatment applied in the Member State of departure, or must independently establish that the supplier’s underlying national treatment was compatible with EU legislation.
The second question concerns German rules under which self-imported coins may qualify for the margin scheme where the taxable amount exceeds 250% of the metal value calculated according to fine weight. The Austrian court asks whether that treatment is compatible with the VAT Directive.
The final question concerns the purchaser’s knowledge. The court asks whether it matters that the taxable dealer did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the German legislation or its practical application was inconsistent with EU law.
The ECJ has not yet decided the case. The published document is a preliminary ruling request and should not be presented as a final judgment.
External links
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