A strict test for economic reality: The concept of VAT supply in Airtours
In this article, the author discusses the UK Supreme Court decision in the Airtours case and the two-step test done by Judge Lord Neuberger focusing on identifying a contractual obligation to make a supply to the payor and only departing from this requirement if it would be in accordance with “econo...
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| Format: | text |
| Language: | English |
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Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
2024
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| Online Access: | https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4435 |
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| Institution: | Singapore Management University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | In this article, the author discusses the UK Supreme Court decision in the Airtours case and the two-step test done by Judge Lord Neuberger focusing on identifying a contractual obligation to make a supply to the payor and only departing from this requirement if it would be in accordance with “economic reality”. The author submits that contract law can serve as a starting point, but that the focus on the existence of a contractual obligation in Airtours makes the test excessively restrictive. In the author’s view, “economic reality” in a multiple-party situation should not require the taxable person to prove “artificiality” or “sham”; and contract law and the contractual terms should not serve as a “strait-jacket” for VAT law. |
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