Case law
SAC did not accept brokerage fee paid to unrelated party as deductible
The Supreme Administrative Court did not accept a brokerage fee (commission) paid to an unrelated party as a deductible expense despite supporting documents and witness testimonies. The burden of proof is on the service recipient who has to prove…
Limits of tax sanctions for Švarc system
In recent years the Supreme Administrative Court has repeatedly ruled in favour of a stricter tax treatment of income from activities carried out by self-employed persons within a Švarc system. However, in its decision of February 2018 the court…
Guidance on determining beneficial ownership
The Advocate General has recently presented her views on a number of cases pending before the Court of Justice of the EU and dealing with beneficial ownership and its interpretation for the purposes of the EU directives. These legal disputes usually…
Electricity meters – installation not required for the entitlement to state aid
According to a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court, the entitlement to aid for renewable sources of energy arose in 2010 based on a lawful licence and the first parallel connection to the network, i.e. without an electricity meter having…
SAC sets limits to fighting VAT fraud
Where a supply has been affected by VAT fraud, the tax administration demands almost investigative checks of suppliers to maintain the entitlement for VAT deduction; and this may happen at any point in the chain. The Supreme Administrative Court …
New rules of liability for unpaid VAT according to SAC
The Supreme Administrative Court has specified the conditions of a supply recipient’s liability for VAT unpaid by the supplier: a payment to a foreign account cannot automatically give rise to liability.
Exemption from withholding tax on interest and royalties may be applied…
The Supreme Administrative Court held that the exemption of interest or royalties from withholding tax may be applied retrospectively for up to two years from filing the application for exemption with the tax authority.
Cameras or privacy?
The monitoring of premises by CCTV cameras is common enough nowadays. Usually, the reason for installing them is the protection of property against theft or vandalism. Yet, as the European Court of Human Rights emphasised in its recent judgment, we…
Self-employed entitled to paid annual leave?
The Court of Justice of the EU provided a positive answer to a question raised by British courts whether self-employed persons are entitled to paid annual leave similarly as employees where their relationship in fact fulfils the criteria of…
Interest on interest according to SAC? Yes, sometimes
The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) has recently dealt twice with the possibility of awarding a taxpayer interest on the interest that the tax administrator refused to award and pay for a long time. It is for sure good to know that this…
Schrems versus Facebook, take two
Maximilian Schrems, an Austrian citizen, has become known in connection with the CJEU’s ruling annulling the Commission’s decision that declared the USA a safe country to transfer personal data from the EU (‘Safe Harbour’). Now the Court of Justice…
Better times ahead for cross-border trading taxpayers?
The Supreme Administrative Court has recently stood up for a taxpayer who effected a supply of goods to another member state, i.e. a transaction exempt from VAT with entitlement to deduction. The crucial point of the dispute was the taxpayer’s good…