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VAT on fuel cards to be affected by CJEU case law

Fuel card transactions are operated all across the EU. Therefore, some new measures being implemented in just some of the member states might be problematic. Hence, most EU states are still reluctant to apply the Court of Justice of the EU’s judgment in the Vega International (C235/18) and Auto Lease Holland (C185/01) cases.

The General Financial Directorate (GFD) is preparing its information on the application of VAT  on fuel cards, aiming to clarify how to implement the conclusions of the CJEU judgements into Czech administrative practice. The information has been submitted to the professional public for comments.

In the experts’ opinion, each case involves specific circumstances, and the judgements cannot thus be applied to all existing business models. Neither judgment addresses the situation of oil companies as issuers of fuel cards; instead, they involve companies ordering the cards and thus further along the supply chain, which is an entirely different situation.

Currently, comments are being gathered and analysed, after which they should be discussed with the respective entities in the second half of February or March. The GFD expects to postpone the effective date of the information and provide sufficient time for adjusting the system, if necessary. The originally announced effective date of 1 April 2020 seems currently unrealistic.

We are monitoring the field closely and are actively working on the issue within the Czech Chamber of Tax Advisors.