The plaintiff is engaged in the mining of bitcoins. For this purpose she has purchased computer and cooling equipment. VAT has been charged on this purchase and the electricity needed to run the equipment. The claimant has deducted the input tax.
The court is of the opinion that the plaintiff performs taxable services. In that case there is no dispute between the parties that the supplies are exempt and that the turnover tax charged to the plaintiff pursuant to Section 15(2)(c) of the Turnover Tax Act 1968 (the Act) can still be deducted if its customers are established outside the Community.
The claimant does not know exactly who its customers are and cannot reasonably find out. It is therefore not clear how many percent of its customers are established outside the Community. She has submitted general statistical data showing that 98% of the trade in bitcoins takes place outside the European Union. However, trade in bitcoins is not the same as mining bitcoins.
The Court sees reason to submit the following questions to the Supreme Court for a preliminary ruling:
May the legislative text of Article 15(2)(c) of the Law be interpreted so broadly that, in the event of a serious and real need for proof, it can be substantiated by a presumption or by general statistical data that the recipient of a service is established outside the Community?
If the answer to the first question is in the affirmative: may general statistical data on the bitcoin trade be used to substantiate the place of establishment of the customers of mining activities, whereas the bitcoin trade does not necessarily coincide with the mining activities?
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