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Den från mervärdesskatt undantagna värdepappershandeln: en jämförelse av tolkning och tillämpning av undantagsregeln i EU-rätt och svensk rätt

Petrosyan, Albina LU (2012) HARH19 20112
Department of Business Law
Abstract
Trade in securities along with other financial activities has been enjoying the VAT exempt status within the EU since 1977, when Directive 77/388/EEC was passed. The VAT exemption for the financial services was originally enacted due to the difficulties relating to defining the taxable amount for the VAT purposes. The mentioned Directive, which has consequently been replaced by Directive 2006/112/EC (the revised VAT Directive - RVD), aimed at further harmonization of the national legislations of EU member states within the common system of VAT. European VAT inter alia rests on the principles of tax neutrality and legal certainty. It is however too early to conclude that the RVD provisions, stipulating the VAT exempt status of transactions... (More)
Trade in securities along with other financial activities has been enjoying the VAT exempt status within the EU since 1977, when Directive 77/388/EEC was passed. The VAT exemption for the financial services was originally enacted due to the difficulties relating to defining the taxable amount for the VAT purposes. The mentioned Directive, which has consequently been replaced by Directive 2006/112/EC (the revised VAT Directive - RVD), aimed at further harmonization of the national legislations of EU member states within the common system of VAT. European VAT inter alia rests on the principles of tax neutrality and legal certainty. It is however too early to conclude that the RVD provisions, stipulating the VAT exempt status of transactions in securities, contribute to establishment of the neutral VAT system. The analyzed praxis of the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden demonstrates that there exist discrepancies in interpretation and application of the exemption at the national and EU levels. That results in a different tax treatment of the identical or similar services within EU and even within the same national legal system. Consequently, the right of a tax payer to foresee taxation outcome of the rendered services is to be questioned.

The present thesis provides for comparison of praxis of the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, which has been developed over the last 15 years, concerning interpretation and application of the provision of Article 135.1. f RVD, exempting the transactions, including negotiation, in securities from VAT. The analysis has been carried out in order to elicit legal prerequisites for the VAT exempt transaction. Due to the difficulties which have arisen in connection with determining the scope of the provision, I have moreover investigated whether the exemption in question, being strictly interpreted in the considered cases, complies with the principles of tax neutrality and legal certainty. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Värdepappershandel tillsammans med annan finansiell verksamhet har undantagits från mervärdesskatteplikt inom EU sedan 1977, när Direktivet 77/388/EEC lagstiftades. Ursprungligen stadgades undantaget för dessa finansiella tjänster på grund av skattetekniska problem som uppkommer vid framställande av det beskattningsbara underlaget. Direktivet, som sedermera har ersatts av Direktivet 2006/112/EC (the revised VAT Directive – RVD) syftade till att ytterligare harmonisera de nationella lagstiftningarna av EU:s medlemstater inom ramen för det Europeiska gemensamma mervärdesskattesystemet. Den Europeiska mervärdesskatten grundas bl.a. på principen av skatteneutralitet och rättssäkerhet. Det är dock för tidigt att dra slutsatsen att... (More)
Värdepappershandel tillsammans med annan finansiell verksamhet har undantagits från mervärdesskatteplikt inom EU sedan 1977, när Direktivet 77/388/EEC lagstiftades. Ursprungligen stadgades undantaget för dessa finansiella tjänster på grund av skattetekniska problem som uppkommer vid framställande av det beskattningsbara underlaget. Direktivet, som sedermera har ersatts av Direktivet 2006/112/EC (the revised VAT Directive – RVD) syftade till att ytterligare harmonisera de nationella lagstiftningarna av EU:s medlemstater inom ramen för det Europeiska gemensamma mervärdesskattesystemet. Den Europeiska mervärdesskatten grundas bl.a. på principen av skatteneutralitet och rättssäkerhet. Det är dock för tidigt att dra slutsatsen att bestämmelserna av RVD angående de från mervärdeskatten undantagna transaktionerna rörande värdepapper bidrar till etablering av det neutrala mervärdeskattesystemet. Den analyserade praxis av EU-domstolen och HFD visar på att det finns diskrepanser i tolkning och tillämpning av undantagsregeln på såväl nationell som EU-nivå. Detta leder till skiljaktig skattebehandling av identiska eller jämförbara tjänster inom samma nationella rättssystem och inom EU. Således ifrågasätts rätten av den skatteskyldige till att förutse beskattningskonsekvenser av de tillhandahållna tjänsterna.

Syfte med uppsatsen har varit att jämföra praxis av EU-domstolen och HFD, som under de senaste 15 åren har uppstått avseende tolkning och tillämpning av bestämmelsen i artikel 135.1. f RVD, som undantar transaktioner, inbegripet förmedling, rörande värdepapper från mervärdesskatteplikt. Analysen har gjorts med syfte att ta fram de juridiska kraven som ställs till en värdepapperstransaktion så att den skall omfattas av undantagsregeln. På grund av svårigheter som har uppkommit i samband med fastställande av undantagets räckvidd, har jag dessutom undersökt huruvida undantaget som har tolkats strikt i de refererade målen, är förenligt med principen om skatteneutralitet och rättssäkerhet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Petrosyan, Albina LU
supervisor
organization
course
HARH19 20112
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Value Added Tax (VAT), exemption, transaction including negotiation in securities, the common system of VAT in EU, neutrality, legal certainty, strict interpretation, mervärdesskatt (moms), undantag, transaktion inbegripet förmedling rörande värdepapper, det gemensamma mervärdesskattesystem i EU, neutralitet, rättssäkerhet, strikt tolkning
language
Swedish
id
2303354
date added to LUP
2012-02-16 10:12:01
date last changed
2012-02-16 10:12:01
@misc{2303354,
  abstract     = {{Trade in securities along with other financial activities has been enjoying the VAT exempt status within the EU since 1977, when Directive 77/388/EEC was passed. The VAT exemption for the financial services was originally enacted due to the difficulties relating to defining the taxable amount for the VAT purposes. The mentioned Directive, which has consequently been replaced by Directive 2006/112/EC (the revised VAT Directive  - RVD), aimed at further harmonization of the national legislations of EU member states within the common system of VAT. European VAT inter alia rests on the principles of tax neutrality and legal certainty. It is however too early to conclude that the RVD provisions, stipulating the VAT exempt status of transactions in securities, contribute to establishment of the neutral VAT system. The analyzed praxis of the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden demonstrates that there exist discrepancies in interpretation and application of the exemption at the national and EU levels. That results in a different tax treatment of the identical or similar services within EU and even within the same national legal system. Consequently, the right of a tax payer to foresee taxation outcome of the rendered services is to be questioned.    

The present thesis provides for comparison of praxis of the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, which has been developed over the last 15 years, concerning interpretation and application of the provision of Article 135.1. f RVD, exempting the transactions, including negotiation, in securities from VAT. The analysis has been carried out in order to elicit legal prerequisites for the VAT exempt transaction. Due to the difficulties which have arisen in connection with determining the scope of the provision, I have moreover investigated whether the exemption in question, being strictly interpreted in the considered cases, complies with the principles of tax neutrality and legal certainty.}},
  author       = {{Petrosyan, Albina}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Den från mervärdesskatt undantagna värdepappershandeln: en jämförelse av tolkning och tillämpning av undantagsregeln i EU-rätt och svensk rätt}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}