- An entrepreneur operates a retail and repair business for motorcycles and cars.
- The entrepreneur rents a commercial space and parking spaces.
- The landlord wants to sell the property and terminate the lease agreement.
- They agree on a termination fee of €250,000.
- The entrepreneur does not pay VAT on this fee.
- The tax authority imposes a tax assessment on the entrepreneur.
- The court rules that the termination fee is a payment for a service.
- Both parties refer to the Lubbock Fine judgment of the EU Court of Justice.
- The court interprets this judgment to mean that if the agreed rent is subject to VAT, the termination fee is also subject to VAT.
- The entrepreneur is also liable for a penalty for non-compliance.
- The court determines that the entrepreneur does not have a reasonable argument and does not provide evidence of absence of all fault.
- The penalty is reduced due to exceeding the reasonable time limit.
Source: fiscount.nl
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.