Facts
- The case concerns a Polish company, C., which operates as a hotel services consolidator, offering customers the ability to book accommodation in hotels and similar establishments in Poland and abroad.
- C. purchases accommodation services from other VAT taxable persons and resells them to customers, including advice on accommodation and travel arrangements.
- The tax authority ruled that C.’s resale of accommodation services does not qualify as a tourist service under Article 119 of the Law on VAT.
- C. appealed and the Regional Administrative Court ruled that C.’s services were to be taxed as tourist services under the special scheme provided for in Article 119.
- The tax authority appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, arguing that an accommodation service offered on its own cannot be considered a tourist service.
- The referring court seeks clarification on whether the special scheme laid down in Articles 306 to 310 of the VAT Directive applies to accommodation services sold without ancillary services.
- The court suggests that such services may be covered by the special scheme even if they are not complex in nature, and that this interpretation would be compatible with the principle of neutrality provided for in the VAT Directive.
- The referring court seeks clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union on the interpretation of the relevant provision of the VAT Directive.
Questions
Does Article 306 of the VAT Directive apply to a hotel services consolidator who buys and resells accommodation services to other businesses without any additional services?
Decision
Article 306 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value-added tax must be interpreted as meaning that the service provided by a taxable person, which consists of purchasing accommodation services from other taxable persons and reselling them to other economic operators, is covered by the special value-added tax scheme applicable to travel agents, even though those services are not accompanied by ancillary services.
See also
