RCB/2/15 VAT grouping rules and the Skandia judgment
Revenue & Customs Brief, Issue 2 10 February 2015
Purpose of this Brief
Revenue and Customs Brief 37/2014 (13 October 2014) (RCB/37/14, Division V16.3) explained that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was considering the effect of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Skandia America Corp. (USA), filial Sverige (C-7/13) on the UK VAT grouping provisions. This brief notifies the outcome and provides further guidance.
Who should read this brief
UK VAT-registered traders who are members of a VAT group in the UK or another EU member state, and have establishments (branches or head offices) in other member states.
Background
Skandia America Corporation was a company incorporated in the United States, with a fixed establishment (a branch) in Sweden. The Swedish branch became part of a Swedish VAT group. The Swedish tax authority viewed services provided by Skandia America Corporation to its Swedish branch as taxable transactions. Skandia disagreed on the grounds that these were intra-company transactions and consequently not supplies for VAT purposes, following the decision in FCE Bank (C-210/04). The matter was referred to the CJEU.
The CJEU stated that under the Swedish grouping provisions only the branch that was