No Reduced VAT Rate for Iris Photo Products; Court Rules Not Qualifying as Art Objects

Photos of iris, not art objects. Reduced VAT rate not applicable

• X, a VAT group selling photographic products, applied for a reduced VAT rate, claiming its products were works of art, but the tax inspector determined the general rate applied.
• The District Court of The Hague ruled that for photographic products to qualify for the reduced VAT rate as works of art, they must be photographed, printed, signed, and numbered by the creator or under their supervision, with a limited edition.
• The Court found that X’s products did not meet all these conditions, specifically lacking the signature and numbering directly on the photo and creator supervision during printing for certain materials, thus upholding the application of the general VAT rate.

Source Taxlive

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• The reduced VAT rate does not apply to the supply of photo products featuring a customer’s iris.
• The court found that not all conditions for classification as an artwork were met, specifically the requirement for the photo product to be signed and numbered by the employee.
• Providing a separate certificate of authenticity does not count as signing and numbering the photo itself.
• Prints made abroad without the involvement of the employee also do not meet the necessary conditions.
• The appeal was dismissed; fiscal neutrality does not apply as no comparable goods qualify for the reduced rate.

Source: nlfiscaal.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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