European Commission v Ireland

In European Commission v Ireland (CJEU Case C-85/11) the European Commission applied to the CJEU for a ruling that by permitting non-taxable persons to be members of a VAT group Ireland had failed to comply with its obligations under article 11 of Directive 2006/112/EC. Advocate General Jääskinen rejected the Commission’s contentions expressing the opinion that ‘it is not an anomaly that non-taxable persons can belong to a VAT group. This is so because any taxable person may be engaged in activities falling within the scope of VAT and activities falling outside of the scope of VAT. In this respect no distinction can be made between an ordinary taxable person and a VAT group. Hence from the perspective of fiscal neutrality the inclusion of non-taxable persons in a VAT group makes no difference to the pursuit of the goals of the...