Omsättning och leverans av varor i harmoniseringens tid - En mervärdesskatterättslig analys av leasingtransaktioner, säkerhetsöverlåtelser och avbetalningsköp
(2023) JURM02 20231Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Den svenska mervärdesskattelagen, ML, stadgar att mervärdesskatt ska beta-las vid omsättning av vara. Ett exempel på när sådan omsättning föreligger är enligt 2 kap. 1 § 1 p. då en vara överlåts mot ersättning. Mot bakgrund av att mervärdesskatterätten i hög utsträckning är unionsrättsligt harmoniserad ska ML tolkas i ljuset av mervärdesskattedirektivet. I direktivet används inte be-greppet omsättning utan detta motsvaras i stället av leverans av varor. När svenska domstolar prövar om mervärdesskattepliktig omsättning är för han-den görs detta därför i stor utsträckning utifrån begreppet leverans av varor. Av denna anledning kommer därför leverans av varor att ersätta omsättning i nationell lagtext från och med den 1 juli 2023.
I ett... (More) - Den svenska mervärdesskattelagen, ML, stadgar att mervärdesskatt ska beta-las vid omsättning av vara. Ett exempel på när sådan omsättning föreligger är enligt 2 kap. 1 § 1 p. då en vara överlåts mot ersättning. Mot bakgrund av att mervärdesskatterätten i hög utsträckning är unionsrättsligt harmoniserad ska ML tolkas i ljuset av mervärdesskattedirektivet. I direktivet används inte be-greppet omsättning utan detta motsvaras i stället av leverans av varor. När svenska domstolar prövar om mervärdesskattepliktig omsättning är för han-den görs detta därför i stor utsträckning utifrån begreppet leverans av varor. Av denna anledning kommer därför leverans av varor att ersätta omsättning i nationell lagtext från och med den 1 juli 2023.
I ett ställningstagande från år 2019, Omsättning av vara och leverans, har Skatteverket ämnat redogöra för hur omsättningsprövningen ska göras i sam-band med avbetalningsköp, säkerhetsöverlåtelser och leasingtransaktioner. Skatteverket har i ställningstagandet konstaterat – framför allt mot bakgrund av artikel 14.1 i mervärdesskattedirektivet och EU-domstolens praxis – att bedömningen ofta grundar sig i om rätten att såsom ägare förfoga över varan har övergått eller inte.
Vidare finns leasingtransaktioner med köpoptioner som träffas av artikel 14.2 b, där fokus i stället läggs vid övergången av den faktiska äganderätten. EU-domstolen har konstaterat att dessa transaktioner ska betraktas som leverans av varor när leasingtagarens enda ekonomiskt rationella alternativ vid leasingperiodens utgång är att förvärva varan. I sådana fall ska full mervärdesskatt erläggas redan vid överlämnandet av varan, i stället för löpande under leasingperioden.
Oavsett vilken artikel i mervärdesskattedirektivet som ska tillämpas har EU-domstolen i flera rättsfall påpekat att det är ett krav för det unionsrättsliga mervärdesskattesystemets effektivitet att domstolar och skattemyndigheter ser till transaktioners verkliga ekonomiska innebörd. Detta är något som också uppmärksammats av Skatteverket.
Denna uppsats har använt Skatteverkets ställningstagande som utgångspunkt och närmare utrett samma frågor som Skatteverket, bland annat med hjälp av senare tillkommen rättspraxis från både EU-domstolen och HFD. Uppsatsen visar att de riktlinjer som EU-domstolen ställt upp omgärdas av vissa gråzoner. Ställningstagandet från Skatteverket har inte heller nämnvärt förtydligat dessa. Ett tydligare ställningstagande hade därför varit på sin plats. På så sätt skulle den skattskyldige lättare kunna förutse hur olika transaktioner ska hanteras mervärdesskatterättsligt. (Less) - Abstract
- The Swedish Value Added Tax Act provides that VAT must be paid whenever there is a turnover of goods. An example of such turnover is, according to Chapter 2, Section 1(1), when goods are transferred against payment. How-ever, given that VAT law is largely harmonized under EU law, the Swedish Value Added Tax Act must be interpreted in the light of the VAT Directive. The concept of turnover is not used in the directive, but instead supply of goods is used in its place. When Swedish courts examine whether turnover subject to VAT has taken place, this is largely based on the concept of supply of goods. For this reason, the concept of supply of goods will replace turnover in the Swedish Value Added Tax Act from July 1, 2023.
In a position... (More) - The Swedish Value Added Tax Act provides that VAT must be paid whenever there is a turnover of goods. An example of such turnover is, according to Chapter 2, Section 1(1), when goods are transferred against payment. How-ever, given that VAT law is largely harmonized under EU law, the Swedish Value Added Tax Act must be interpreted in the light of the VAT Directive. The concept of turnover is not used in the directive, but instead supply of goods is used in its place. When Swedish courts examine whether turnover subject to VAT has taken place, this is largely based on the concept of supply of goods. For this reason, the concept of supply of goods will replace turnover in the Swedish Value Added Tax Act from July 1, 2023.
In a position statement (sw: ställningstagande) from 2019, the Swedish Tax Agency has intended to clarify how the judgement of whether taxable turnover has taken place should be conducted regarding hire-purchases, collateral transfers and leasing transactions. The Swedish Tax Agency has stated – particularly in the light of Article 14(1) of the VAT Directive and the case law developed by the CJEU – that the judgement is often based on whether the right to dispose of the goods as owner has been transferred.
There are also leasing transactions with purchase options that are covered by Article 14(2)(b). In these cases, what is decisive for the judgement is the transfer, or lack thereof, of the ownership rights. The CJEU has stated that these transactions are to be qualified as supplies of goods when the lessee's only economically rational choice at the end of the leasing period is to acquire the goods. In such cases, full VAT shall be paid at the time of the handover of the goods, rather than gradually during the leasing period.
Regardless of which article of the VAT Directive is to be applied, the CJEU has emphasized that it is a requirement for the effectiveness of the harmonized VAT system that national courts and tax authorities consider the economic reality of transactions. This is acknowledged also by the Swedish Tax Agency in its position statement.
This thesis has used the Swedish Tax Agency's position statement as a start-ing point, and further investigated the same issues as the Swedish Tax Agency. This has been done by using, among other things, recent case law from both the CJEU and the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court. The thesis shows that the guidelines set by the CJEU are surrounded by grey areas. These gray areas have not been made significantly clearer by the position statement from the Swedish Tax Agency. An updated position statement would therefore be appropriate to make it easier for the taxpayer to predict how different transactions should be handled under VAT law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9114224
- author
- Severinsson, Johan LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Turnover and supply of goods in the time of harmonisation - An analysis of VAT effects regarding leasing transactions, collateral transfers and hire-purchases
- course
- JURM02 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Skatterätt, Tax law, Mervärdesskatt, VAT law, Leverans av vara, Omsättning, Supply of goods, Law and Political Science
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9114224
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-12 11:48:17
- date last changed
- 2023-06-12 11:48:17
@misc{9114224,
abstract = {{The Swedish Value Added Tax Act provides that VAT must be paid whenever there is a turnover of goods. An example of such turnover is, according to Chapter 2, Section 1(1), when goods are transferred against payment. How-ever, given that VAT law is largely harmonized under EU law, the Swedish Value Added Tax Act must be interpreted in the light of the VAT Directive. The concept of turnover is not used in the directive, but instead supply of goods is used in its place. When Swedish courts examine whether turnover subject to VAT has taken place, this is largely based on the concept of supply of goods. For this reason, the concept of supply of goods will replace turnover in the Swedish Value Added Tax Act from July 1, 2023.
In a position statement (sw: ställningstagande) from 2019, the Swedish Tax Agency has intended to clarify how the judgement of whether taxable turnover has taken place should be conducted regarding hire-purchases, collateral transfers and leasing transactions. The Swedish Tax Agency has stated – particularly in the light of Article 14(1) of the VAT Directive and the case law developed by the CJEU – that the judgement is often based on whether the right to dispose of the goods as owner has been transferred.
There are also leasing transactions with purchase options that are covered by Article 14(2)(b). In these cases, what is decisive for the judgement is the transfer, or lack thereof, of the ownership rights. The CJEU has stated that these transactions are to be qualified as supplies of goods when the lessee's only economically rational choice at the end of the leasing period is to acquire the goods. In such cases, full VAT shall be paid at the time of the handover of the goods, rather than gradually during the leasing period.
Regardless of which article of the VAT Directive is to be applied, the CJEU has emphasized that it is a requirement for the effectiveness of the harmonized VAT system that national courts and tax authorities consider the economic reality of transactions. This is acknowledged also by the Swedish Tax Agency in its position statement.
This thesis has used the Swedish Tax Agency's position statement as a start-ing point, and further investigated the same issues as the Swedish Tax Agency. This has been done by using, among other things, recent case law from both the CJEU and the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court. The thesis shows that the guidelines set by the CJEU are surrounded by grey areas. These gray areas have not been made significantly clearer by the position statement from the Swedish Tax Agency. An updated position statement would therefore be appropriate to make it easier for the taxpayer to predict how different transactions should be handled under VAT law.}},
author = {{Severinsson, Johan}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Omsättning och leverans av varor i harmoniseringens tid - En mervärdesskatterättslig analys av leasingtransaktioner, säkerhetsöverlåtelser och avbetalningsköp}},
year = {{2023}},
}