Sekundarni povzetek: |
This master thesis studies the VAT treatment of gifts, samples and vouchers. I have thoroughly studied the Slovenian VAT legislation and the practice set in place by the Slovenian tax authority, the provisions of the EU VAT Directive and the case law of the Court of Justice, as well as the practice by the British HMRC. In the part where I address the treatment of vouchers, I also look into the envisaged amendments to the EU legislation, namely the Proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax as regards the treatment of vouchers. Based on all the aforementioned, I have carried out a consistency check of the Slovenian legislation and practice with the European legislation and practice, hence pointing out where, in my opinion, inconsistencies exist and amendments are necessary.
There are loopholes in the regulation of the VAT treatment of gifts, samples and transactions with different types of vouchers, which is why we need to resort to the EU Court of Justice case law. The legislation provides for no detailed definition of the terms „sample“ and „gift of small value“. For the VAT taxation of samples and gifts, the judgement of the EU Court of Justice in case EMI Group (C-581/08) is of key importance. As far as the VAT taxation of vouchers is concerned, neither Slovenia's VAT Act
(ZDDV-1) nor the VAT Directive contain any provisions on the subject, there are, however, several judgements by the Court of Justice, namely Boots Company (C-126/88), Argos Distributors (C-288/94), Marks & Spencer (C-62/00), Elida Gibbs (C-317/94), Astra Zeneca (C-40/09), Lebara (C 520/10). The EU case law may have provided for some guidelines, but certain problems remain unsolved. In addition to that, the existing rules, created by the EU case law, lack clarity. Therefore, the European Commission drafted the Proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax as regards the treatment of vouchers, in order to overcome legal gaps. However, despite the initial plan of the amendments taking effect as of January 1st 2015, the Proposal has not yet been adopted, as the Member States have not been able to reach a consensus regarding its content. |