- The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the special VAT scheme for travel agents (tour operator margin scheme) applies to organized bus excursions (“Kaffeefahrten”) even if the travel service systematically generates a negative profit margin and the remaining costs are covered by sales of goods during the trip.
- The ECJ confirmed that the applicability of the tour operator margin scheme depends on whether the travel service is a substantial, independent offering, not on its profitability, as there is no purchase obligation for the goods sold during the trip.
- The Court also determined that a systematically negative margin for a single travel service does not entitle the taxpayer to a refund of input VAT, as such a refund would contradict the principles and aims of the special scheme, including the prohibition of global margin calculations and the goal of balanced VAT revenue distribution.
Source BTW Jurisprudentie
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