This book serves as an introduction to the currect EU Value Added Tax system. It provides a consice overview of the working of EU VAT and the concepts and rationale behind it. The goal of this book is to enable the reader obtaining a basic knowledge of the EU VAT system, or to refresh his or hers memory within a day's work. Hence, this book is titled: 'Vat in a day'. Even though the book covers all aspects of the EU Vat system, some elements are discussed in more details than others. Didactically sound choices were made as regards the depth at which the various subjects in this book are discussed. Nevertheless, the book provides an account of the key providers in the VAT Directive and the key case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the field of VAT.

Parties to cross-border disputes arising anywhere in the vast Portuguese-speaking world – a community of more than 230 million in a space that offers a wide array of investment opportunities across four continents – increasingly seek Portugal as their preferred seat of arbitration. A signatory to all relevant international conventions, Portugal has proven to be an ‘arbitration-friendly’ jurisdiction. This volume is the first and so far only book in English that provides a thorough, in-depth analysis of international arbitration law and practice in Portugal. Its contributing authors are among the most highly regarded legal names in the country, including scholars, arbitrators, and practitioners. The authors describe how international arbitration proceedings are conducted in Portugal, what cautions should be taken, and what procedural strategies may be suitable in particular cases. They provide insightful answers to questions such as the following: What matters can be submitted to arbitration under Portuguese law? What are the validity requirements for an arbitration agreement? How do the State courts interact with arbitration proceedings and what is the attitude of such courts toward international arbitration? What are the rules governing evidentiary matters in arbitration? How is an arbitration tribunal constituted? How are arbitrators appointed? How may they be challenged? How can an international arbitral award be recognized and enforced? How does the Portuguese legal system address the issue of damages and what specific damages are admitted? How are the costs of arbitration proceedings estimated and allocated? The book includes analyses of arbitration related to specific fields of the law, notably sports, administrative, tax, intellectual property rights (especially regarding reference and generic medicines), and corporate disputes. Each chapter provides, for the topics it addresses, an examination of the applicable laws, rules, arbitration practice, and views taken by arbitral tribunals and state courts as well as those of the most highly considered scholars. As a detailed examination of the legal framework and of all procedural steps of an arbitration in Portugal, from the drafting of an arbitration agreement to the enforcement of an award, this book constitutes an invaluable resource for parties involved in or considering an international arbitration in this country. The guidance that it seeks to provide in respect of any problem likely to arise in this context can be useful to arbitrators, judges, academics, and interested lawyers.

This thesis focuses upon VAT in the context of the Community's internal market. Its central aim is to prove that the current EU VAT system is incompatible with the concept of internal market as set out in the EC Treaty and interpreted by the Court of Justice. The study commences with an analysis of the concept of internal market, the main objective of which is to establish the basic legal framework for the proposed thesis. As part of this examination, it is demonstrated that the EC Treaty creates a temporally unlimited obligation for the Community to approve legislation with the aim of establishing and improving the functioning of the internal market. By analysis of existing EU VAT jurisprudence, it is argued that obstacles cannot be overcome through incremental developments emerging from the Court of Justice, but can only be resolved by fundamental and substantive legislative amendment.

A breadth of new digital platforms has dramatically expanded the range of possibilities for exchanging anything required by business or personal needs from accommodation to rides. In the virtual marketplaces shaped and ruled by these novel matchmakers, rather than by a single centralized entity, value is created through the granular interaction of many dispersed individuals. By allowing instantaneous and smooth interaction among millions of individuals, platforms have indeed pushed the digital frontier farther and farther, so as to include within it even services once not capable of direct delivery from a remote location such as accommodation and passenger transport. Legal disruption is also underway with foundational dichotomous categories, such as those between suppliers and customers, business and private spheres, employees and self-employed, no longer viable as organizational legal structures. This is the essential background of the first book to relate what is synthetically captured under the umbrella definition of ‘sharing economy’ to key features at the core of European Value Added Tax (EU VAT) and to look at the feasibility of a reformed EU VAT system capable of addressing the main challenges posed by these new models of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Specifically, the study analyses five legal propositions underpinning the current EU VAT system as the following: taxable persons; taxable transactions; composite supplies; place of supply rules; and liability regimes for collection and remittance of VAT. Exploration of these five legal propositions is meant to assess the practical feasibility of shoehorning the main sharing economy business models – notably, those available in the accommodation and passenger transport sectors – into the framework of existing EU VAT provisions. The author further draws on the normative standards of equality, neutrality, simplicity, flexibility and proportionality to test the ‘reflexes’ of the current EU VAT system in the sharing economy domain. Opportunities for reform of the current EU VAT system are in turn evaluated with each chapter including cogent proposals in the form of incremental and targeted amendments to the current EU VAT provisions. As the first comprehensive analysis of the treatment of the sharing economy for VAT purposes, the book provides not only a theoretical framework for future studies in the tax field but also indispensable practical guidance for VAT specialists confronting daily with the many challenges ushered in by the sharing economy. Moreover, the various solutions and recommendations advanced in the book offer valuable insights to international and national policymakers dealing with similar issues under other VAT systems.

Resumen: Published annually, this handy two-volume set provides a comprehensive overview of the most essential parts of VAT Directives in Europe. This book set serves as a textbook for advanced students of tax law and/or Community law and as a reference book for (indirect) tax law or Community law practitioners. Volume 1: Introduction to European VAT This volume offers a systematic survey of the implications of the legal principles on indirect tax matters and VAT rules of the European Union in force, and a discussion of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in indirect tax matters, particularly in VAT. It is divided into two parts: (I) General subjects and (II) European VAT. Following a general introduction on VAT as fiscal phenomenon, European VAT is discussed as provided for in the Sixth VAT Directive as replaced by Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT (the recast VAT Directive, referred to as the VAT Directive). VAT issues are illustrated by excerpts from decisions of the Court of Justice. The changes from the VAT package are included, and all chapters and references are updated with the changes from the Lisbon Treaty. Volume 2: Integrated Texts of the VAT Directives and the former Sixth VAT Directive This volume provides an (unofficial) integrated text of Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT and the Directives amending it, including Regulation (EC) No. 282/2011, the recast implementing Regulation, as amended. Early July 2012, the Commission made available a list of guidelines agreed on by the VAT Committee. In footnotes, the guidelines are mentioned relating to the provision in question. An (unofficial) integrated text of the Sixth VAT Directive as applicable until 1 January 2007 is also included. The latest texts integrated into the text are Directive (EU) 2016/1056 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 17/2014.

Resumen: Published annually, this handy two-volume set provides a comprehensive overview of the most essential parts of VAT Directives in Europe. This book set serves as a textbook for advanced students of tax law and/or Community law and as a reference book for (indirect) tax law or Community law practitioners. Volume 1: Introduction to European VAT This volume offers a systematic survey of the implications of the legal principles on indirect tax matters and VAT rules of the European Union in force, and a discussion of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in indirect tax matters, particularly in VAT. It is divided into two parts: (I) General subjects and (II) European VAT. Following a general introduction on VAT as fiscal phenomenon, European VAT is discussed as provided for in the Sixth VAT Directive as replaced by Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT (the recast VAT Directive, referred to as the VAT Directive). VAT issues are illustrated by excerpts from decisions of the Court of Justice. The changes from the VAT package are included, and all chapters and references are updated with the changes from the Lisbon Treaty. Volume 2: Integrated Texts of the VAT Directives and the former Sixth VAT Directive This volume provides an (unofficial) integrated text of Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT and the Directives amending it, including Regulation (EC) No. 282/2011, the recast implementing Regulation, as amended. Early July 2012, the Commission made available a list of guidelines agreed on by the VAT Committee. In footnotes, the guidelines are mentioned relating to the provision in question. An (unofficial) integrated text of the Sixth VAT Directive as applicable until 1 January 2007 is also included. The latest texts integrated into the text are Directive (EU) 2016/1056 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 17/2014.