On April 5th, 2022, the Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 is published and amends the Directive 2006/112/EC which governs the intra-Community VAT.
Among the changes adopted, a new taxation rule concerning events (conferences, congresses, training courses, etc.) given in virtual classrooms.
Articles 53 and 54, for taxable and non-taxable persons respectively, provide that the supply of access to cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment or similar events, such as fairs and exhibitions, is taxable at the place where these events actually take place.
For events that take place physically, the determination of the place of taxation is generally straightforward since the admission fee is taxable in the country where the event takes place.
On the other hand, since the health crisis (COVID-19), many of the cultural, artistic and sports events could not take place physically and were carried out and retransmitted via collaborative videoconferencing platforms (Microsoft teams, Zoom, Skype, Google Meet etc.). In this case, which place of taxation should be retained? The place of establishment of the provider who retransmits his service via the collaborative platform or the place of establishment of the clients?
Directive 2022/542 settles the issue! Where the services and ancillary services relate to activities that are streamed or otherwise made virtually available, the access fee is taxable in the customer’s country of establishment.
EU member states must incorporate this change by December 31, 2024.
