In the Swedish case of X v Skatteverket (ECJ Case C-84/09), Advocate-General Kokott expressed the Opinion that ‘the classification of a transaction concerning a new vessel exceeding 7.5 metres in length as an intra-Community supply’, qualifying for exemption under Article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC, ‘does not depend only on the condition that the vessel leave the Member State of origin or arrive in the Member State of destination within a certain period of time. Such classification should be made on the basis of an overall consideration of all the objective circumstances and having regard to the intention of the person acquiring the goods concerning their final consumption, as confirmed by factual evidence.’
Why it matters: This will be an interesting authority on the interpretation of Article 138 of the VAT Directive. It seems likely that the ECJ will follow Advocate-General Kokott’s Opinion.
In the Swedish case of X v Skatteverket (ECJ Case C-84/09), Advocate-General Kokott expressed the Opinion that ‘the classification of a transaction concerning a new vessel exceeding 7.5 metres in length as an intra-Community supply’, qualifying for exemption under Article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC, ‘does not depend only on the condition that the vessel leave the Member State of origin or arrive in the Member State of destination within a certain period of time. Such classification should be made on the basis of an overall consideration of all the objective circumstances and having regard to the intention of the person acquiring the goods concerning their final consumption, as confirmed by factual evidence.’
Why it matters: This will be an interesting authority on the interpretation of Article 138 of the VAT Directive. It seems likely that the ECJ will follow Advocate-General Kokott’s Opinion.
