Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal Judgement, 21 May 2026, no 24BX01030 This judgment clarifies the criteria for determining whether furnished holiday lettings fall under VAT exemption or must be taxed due to their hotel-like characteristics. In this case, a French property management company was letting furnished apartments in a ski resort and had claimed VAT...
Since 18 August 2025, French companies incurring business expenses in Serbia have been able to claim a refund of Serbian VAT. Serbia has formally recognised reciprocity with France, making French businesses eligible under Article 53 of the Serbian VAT Act, which allows foreign companies not established in Serbia to recover VAT on local expenses. Eligible...
A French appeals court has ruled that transporting biological samples can be VAT-exempt, provided the transport is genuinely tied to an exempt medical analysis service. The case involved a medical laboratory carrying out analyses for clients based in North Africa. Local providers collected, preserved and shipped the samples to France for testing. The French Tax...
Background of Judgment of the European Union Court of Justice, Case C-602/24 : During a tax audit, the VAT exemption of a Polish company on an invoice issued for an intra-Community supply of goods to Lithuania was called into question. However, unbeknownst to the company, the buyer transported the goods to Belarus. The transaction therefore...
The list of airlines deemed to meet the exemption condition is completed with the names of two companies:
Heli-Union
IXAIR.
These two companies are deemed to meet the exemption condition retroactively, as of September 7th, 2022.
To learn more about the exemption for airlines you can read our...
Following the European Commission’s 2018 proposal to reform VAT rates an agreement was reached between EU finance ministers regarding the update of VAT rate rules.
Three measures emerge from this agreement:
1° Updating the list of goods and services to which all Member States may apply reduced VAT rates:
In particular,...
On 27th October 2021, the Belgian authorities published Circular 2021/C/96 which clarifies the VAT exemption for transport services directly linked to the export of goods. This circular takes into account the interpretation given by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the “LC IK” case of 29th June 2017 concerning Article 146 of...
The Swiss tax authorities have published a practical manual on the tax obligations for foreign companies in Switzerland. This handbook covers aspects that generally affect foreign businesses, including a description of activities requiring VAT registration, possible exemptions in Switzerland and administrative advice on how to register and when to submit VAT returns. It also explains...
On 15th June 2021, the Director of the Agenzia Entrate published protocol number 151377/2021, which sets out the new procedures for applying for a certificate of purchase under the Italian Commercial Exemption (ICE) for commercial vessels. From 15th July 2021, in order to benefit from ICE, owners and/or operators of merchant ships will be able...
Due to the current health crisis (COVID-19), the activity of commercial vessels in 2020 is not representative of reality and some vessels were not able to pass the 70% navigation outside French waters threshhold, a condition of the FCE (French Commercial Exemption). To compensate for this, the tax authorities exceptionally authorise vessels to assess compliance...
For ship rental and charter contracts concluded by 31st October 2020: Short-term leasing of ships (less than 90 days) to a taxable or non-taxable person was taxable in France as long as the ship was made available to the lessee in France (Article 259 A 1° a) of the General Tax Code). Rentals were taxable...
To mitigate the effects of the health crisis (covid-19), the National Revenue Agency of Bulgaria (NRA) has announced VAT and customs duties exemptions for the import of certain medical products needed to combat the covid-19 pandemic
Following the health crisis (Covid-19), the Austrian Ministry of Finance has announced that Intra-Community supply and acquisitions of respiratory masks will be subject to a 0% VAT rate for the period from 13th April to 1st August 2020.
On February 3rd 2020, the Portuguese Tax Authorities issued circular No. 30218/2020 providing clarification on what proof is required for shipping or transporting goods when applying for VAT exemptions on Intra-Community transactions of goods. It also specifies what documentation must be kept either by taxable persons transferring goods under the simplified consignment stock scheme or...
