EU pushes for Skandia implementation
- Jan 6, 2017 | Richard Asquith

The European Commission’s VAT Committee has called for a full imposition of the Skandia tax case.
The European Court of Justice case considered whether EU transactions between a foreign bank branch and its headquarters should be including in VAT groupings. Currently, see table below, there are significant variations between member states. The VAT Committee’s recommendations are non-binding.
Member state | Latest position |
Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Spain (advanced method) | The intention of these member states is uncertain |
Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, UK | It is not expected that these member states to apply ‘establishment only’ VAT grouping to create intra-establishment supplies when the establishment in the member state is VAT grouped |
Italy, Romania, Spain (basic method) | These types of ‘VAT grouping’ are purely administrative, treating each member as a separate taxable person and just amalgamating their VAT figures on a single return. |
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden | It is expected that these member states to apply ‘establishment only’ VAT grouping to create intra-establishment supplies when the establishment in the member state is VAT grouped |
Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia | These member states do not have VAT grouping |
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VP Global Indirect Tax
Richard Asquith

VP Global Indirect Tax
Richard Asquith
Richard Asquith is the former VP Global Indirect Tax at Avalara