The EMAG case - a matter of opinion

Patrick Walker, UK head of indirect tax and Jo Bello, indirect tax director, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, discuss the implications of the Advocate General's Opinion in the EMAG Handel case When looking at the facts and conclusions of the Advocate General's (AG) opinion in EMAG Handel Eder OHG v Finanzlandsdirektion fur kärnten Berufungssenat ll ('the EMAG case') before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), some tax advisers may decide that the case will not change the way a business must think about chain transactions, or international movements of goods for VAT purposes. Some may also think that this is how we would always have seen things in the UK and that the Austrian tax authorities were wrong. But if they read the AG's opinion is just that - an opinion - but this case looks like an important one to watch out for because it could mean that companies will need to think about how their systems have been configured to deal with such transactions.

Technical Department
020 7235 9381

March 2006 by Patrick Walker