Case C-310/11: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 December 2012 (request for a preliminary ruling from the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) — United Kingdom) — Grattan plc v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (Taxation — VAT — Second Directive 67/228/EEC — Article 8(a) — Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC — Supply of goods — Basis of assessment — Commission paid by a mail order company to its agent — Purchases by third-party customers — Price reduction after the chargeable event — Direct effect)
Date: 2012-12-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, approximation of laws, basis of tax assessment, distance selling, equal treatment, interpretation of the law, reduced price, tax collection








C_2013046EN.01000601.xml










16.2.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 46/6





Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 December 2012 (request for a preliminary ruling from the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) — United Kingdom) — Grattan plc v The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs
(Case C-310/11) (1)

(Taxation - VAT - Second Directive 67/228/EEC - Article 8(a) - Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC - Supply of goods - Basis of assessment - Commission paid by a mail order company to its agent - Purchases by third-party customers - Price reduction after the chargeable event - Direct effect)
2013/C 46/10
Language of the case: English

Referring court

First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber)

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant: Grattan plc

Respondent: The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) — Interpretation of Article 8(a) of Second Council Directive 67/228/EEC of 11 April 1967 on the harmonisation of legislation of Member States concerning turnover taxes — Structure and procedures for application of the common system of value added tax (OJ, English Special Edition 1967, p. 16) — Basis of assessment — Supply of goods — Commission paid by a mail order company to its agent, acting as intermediary in the supply of goods to the final consumer — Commission taking the form either of a payment of money or of a credit against amounts owed to the company in respect of goods purchased by the agent for the agent’s own use — Retrospective reduction of the basis of assessment of supplies of goods made before 1 January 1978, by virtue of the direct effect of Article 8(a) of the directive and/or application of the principles of fiscal neutrality or equal treatment

Operative part of the judgment

Article 8(a) of Second Council Directive 67/228/EEC of 11 April 1967 on the harmonisation of legislation of Member States concerning turnover taxes — Structure and procedures for application of the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as not conferring upon a taxable person the right to treat the basis of assessment of a supply of goods as retrospectively reduced where, after the time of that supply of goods, an agent received a credit from the supplier which the agent elected to take either as a payment of money or as a credit against amounts owed to the supplier in respect of supplies of goods that had already taken place.


(1)  OJ C 282, 24.9.2011.