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VAT and Financial Services pp 337–364Cite as

VAT and Insurance: The European Union

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Abstract

In European VAT, insurance is exempt from the tax. Determination of the scope of exemption for ‘insurance and reinsurance transactions, including related services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents’ is far for being clear in the light of the wording, purpose and context of Article 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive. The Court of Justice has clarified the concepts enacted in that provision to a large extent in its case law. Nevertheless, the approach of the Court, which has to balance the principle of neutrality on one hand, and the principle of strict interpretation of exemptions on the other, still leaves many interpretative doubts. The definition of insurance as formulated by the Court of Justice focuses on the nature of the service and raises questions as to the scope of its application to services which, although not constituting conventional insurance, share the functions and characteristics of such insurance. The case law of the Court of Justice as to the outsourcing of services by insurers and transfers of portfolios of (re)insurance has had a severe impact on how insurers can structure and restructure their businesses. In this chapter, after a brief presentation of the background for the current state of law, the case law of the Court of Justice as to the scope of the exemption for insurance in European VAT is analysed and critically assessed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ward and Zurbruegg (2000, p. 489).

  2. 2.

    For a discussion of which elements of insurance should be taxed under VAT, see Barham et al. (1987), Grubert and Krever (2013), European Commission (1996).

  3. 3.

    The legal foundation for the common system of VAT in the European Union is currently Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax [2006] OJ L 347/1 [hereinafter VAT Directive] and the Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 282/2011 of 15 March 2011 laying down implementing measures for Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax [2011] OJ L 71/1 [hereinafter Implementing Regulation]. The VAT Directive entered into force on 1 January 2007 and repealed and replaced Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes—Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment [1977] OJ L 145/1 [hereinafter Sixth VAT Directive] and First Council Directive 67/227/EEC of 11 April 1967 on the harmonisation of legislation of Member States concerning turnover taxes [1967] OJ Spec Ed P 71/1301 [First VAT Directive].

  4. 4.

    European Commission, Consultation Paper on Modernizing Value Added Tax Obligations for Financial Services and Insurances (2006) and, e.g., de la Feria (2007, p. 75).

  5. 5.

    For an overview see de la Feria (2007).

  6. 6.

    The exemption for insurance was introduced in Art. 13(B)(a) of the Sixth Directive, which in identical wording corresponds to the current Art. 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive.

  7. 7.

    European Commission, ‘The TCA System—a detailed description’ (1999).

  8. 8.

    European Commission (1996).

  9. 9.

    One of the concerns related to that method of taxation was also the necessity to reveal information on the margins earned by financial and insurance institutions: see Henkow (2008, p. 330).

  10. 10.

    Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, as regards the treatment of insurance and financial services, COM (2007) 747 Final/2, 20 February 2008 [hereinafter Proposal for a Council Directive] and Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down implementing measures for Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, as regards the treatment of insurance and financial services, COM (2007) 746 Final/2, 20 February 2008 [Proposal for a Council Regulation].

  11. 11.

    See further discussion in Sect. 18.14 below.

  12. 12.

    For a comprehensive analysis of the treatment of insurance in European VAT see Papis-Almansa (2016 forthcoming).

  13. 13.

    The latter is a genuine exemption referred to also as ‘zero rating’. This type of exemption has been envisaged in the first place for transactions in international trade. See Arts. 138–166 of the VAT Directive.

  14. 14.

    See Arts. 168 and 169 of the VAT Directive. In European Union law ‘exemption without the right to deduct input VAT’ corresponds to the concept of ‘input taxed’ transactions in the Australian GST system.

  15. 15.

    Amand (2010), Englisch (2013).

  16. 16.

    Already in 1957 Maurice Lauré described exemptions from VAT as a ‘cancer of VAT’ [Lauré (1957), cited in Terra and Kajus (2015, Sect. 5.1.2)]. Exemptions have been frequently characterized as ‘abhorrent’ or ‘anathema’ to the logic and functioning of VAT: see, inter alia, Ebrill et al. (2001, p. 100), Crawford et al. (2010, p. 305).

  17. 17.

    Papis (2014).

  18. 18.

    For a broader discussion on the negative effects of exemptions see Ebrill et al. (2001, pp. 83 et seq.), de la Feria (2007, p. 75).

  19. 19.

    European Commission, The Green Paper on the Future of VAT. Towards a simpler, more robust and efficient VAT system, COM (2010), 695.

  20. 20.

    This issue is crucial for establishing, amongst other things, the place of supply and the obligations of the parties, and for determining the extent of the right to deduct input VAT.

  21. 21.

    The discussion in this chapter is however focused on the issue of the scope of exemption for insurance and reinsurance transactions including related services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents. For an in-depth analysis of the other abovementioned interpretative difficulties, see Papis-Almansa (2016 forthcoming).

  22. 22.

    The exemption for insurance transactions does not belong to the group of exemptions for certain activities in the public interest (VAT Directive, Title IX, Chap. 2) but instead to the group of exemptions for other activities (VAT Directive, Title IX, Chap. 3).

  23. 23.

    Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment. Proposal for a sixth Council Directive on the harmonization of Member States concerning turnover taxes COM (73) 950, p. 15.

  24. 24.

    See European Commission, Consultation Paper on Modernizing Value Added Tax Obligations for Financial Services and Insurances. The difficulties in determining the tax base for financial transactions as a main rationale for the exemptions have been also referred to by the Court of Justice, e.g., in C-455/05, Velvet & Steel Immobilien, EU:C:2007:232, para. 24.

  25. 25.

    Articles 173-175 of the VAT Directive. For a broader discussion on calculation of a deductible proportion for input VAT in the context of financial transactions, see Henkow (2008, p. 298 and following).

  26. 26.

    According to Amand (2009, p. 264), the list of exemptions was based on the text of the German Turnover Tax of 16 October 1934 and, when it came to financial transactions, the list of operations which were exempt from tax on financial activities which applied in France between 1968 and 1978.

  27. 27.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 23 and C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, para. 67.

  28. 28.

    Other taxes that Member States may maintain or introduce are taxes on betting and gambling, excise duties, stamp duties, or more generally, any taxes, duties or charges which cannot be characterized as turnover taxes, provided that the collecting of those taxes, duties or charges does not give rise, in trade between Member States, to formalities connected with the crossing of frontiers.

  29. 29.

    Insurance Europe (2015).

  30. 30.

    See consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) [2012] OJ C 325/1. Article 19, TEU entrusts the Court of Justice with a task of ensuring ‘that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties the law is observed’. The case law of the Court of Justice has played a crucial role in the shaping of the European VAT and its development to the current state. The preliminary ruling procedure (Art. 267, TFEU) arguably constitutes the most fundamental instrument for the Court to influence the content of Union law and ensure that the primary and secondary law is as uniformly as possible applied in all the Member States: see van Brederode and O’Shea (2014).

  31. 31.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93 and C-240/99, Skandia, EU:C:2001:140. See further discussion in the sections of this chapter which follow.

  32. 32.

    The cases are further discussed in the sections of this chapter which follow.

  33. 33.

    Besides the traditional protective function insurance nowadays is also becoming a saving vehicle.

  34. 34.

    The Court of Justice in many cases has stated that the principle of fiscal neutrality reflects, in matters relating to VAT, the general principle of equal treatment. See, e.g., C-259/10 and C-260/10, The Rank Group, EU:C:2011:719.

  35. 35.

    C-348/87, Stichting Uitvoering Financiële Acties v. Staatssecretaris van Financiën, EU:C:1989:246, para. 13.

  36. 36.

    De la Feria (2013).

  37. 37.

    Hellner (1963).

  38. 38.

    The national courts of the Member States continue to refer preliminary ruling questions on the scope of Art. 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive to the Court of Justice. Only recently the Court of Justice has delivered the judgments in C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, and in C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2016:172.

  39. 39.

    On differences in the scope of exemption for insurance transactions and related services of insurance intermediaries see, e.g., Grambeck (2012).

  40. 40.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 17.

  41. 41.

    Depending on the value of the claim.

  42. 42.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 12, questions 1 and 2.

  43. 43.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 12, questions 3 and 4.

  44. 44.

    C-283/81, CILFIT v. Ministero della Sanità, EU:C:1982:335, para. 17.

  45. 45.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 15.

  46. 46.

    First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance [1973] OJ L 228/3.

  47. 47.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 18.

  48. 48.

    The requirement of a strict interpretation is however not absolute. The Court has observed that the requirement of a strict interpretation does not mean that the terms used to specify the exemptions should be construed in such a way as to deprive the exemptions of their intended effect (C-445/05, Haderer, EU:C:2007:344 para. 18).

  49. 49.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 22.

  50. 50.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 23. As discussed in Sect. 18.3 above, according to the Court it would be contrary to the purpose of the exemption for insurance transactions to allow for exemption only for services provided by professional insurers, as in a scenario such as in the CPP case, the final consumer might have to pay not only a tax on insurance contracts but also VAT.

  51. 51.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, paras. 33–35.

  52. 52.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, paras. 29–31. The final decision as to whether the activities undertaken by CPP constituted a composite supply was left to the House of Lords, which concluded that the essential feature of the plan and the dominant reason why objectively customers of CPP joined the plan was to obtain insurance cover. Other elements, such as registration of credit cards were considered ancillary to insurance ([2001] UKHL 4).

  53. 53.

    C-13/06, Commission v. Greece, EU:C:2006:765.

  54. 54.

    On the basis of TFEU, Art. 263.

  55. 55.

    C-13/06, Commission v. Greece, EU:C:2006:765, para. 11.

  56. 56.

    C-13/06, Commission v. Greece, EU:C:2006:765, para. 12.

  57. 57.

    C-240/99, Skandia, EU:C:2001:140.

  58. 58.

    C-240/99, Skandia, EU:C:2001:140, para. 41.

  59. 59.

    C-240/99, Skandia, EU:C:2001:140, para. 40.

  60. 60.

    C-2/95, SDC v. Skatteministeriet, EU:C:1997:278.

  61. 61.

    Providing for exemption for various financial transactions and currently laid down in Art. 135(1)(d)–(f).

  62. 62.

    C-2/95, SDC v. Skatteministeriet, EU:C:1997:278, paras. 65, 75 and 76.

  63. 63.

    The Court noted that the scope of the exemption which was the subject of interpretation by the Court of Justice in the SDC case differs from the scope of the exemption for insurance. The former refers in a general way to transactions concerning or involving certain banking operations rather than solely banking operations proper. The latter covers insurance transactions in the strict sense (see C-240/99, Skandia, EU:C:2001:140, para. 36).

  64. 64.

    C-8/01, Taksatorringen, EU:C:2003:621.

  65. 65.

    To support its claim, Taksatorringen, which considered itself an agent, referred to the definition of an agent laid down in Art. 2(1)(b) of Directive 77/92/EEC on insurance intermediation (which is no longer in force as it was repealed by Directive 2002/92/EC on Insurance Mediation).

  66. 66.

    C-8/01, Taksatorringen, EU:C:2003:621, para. 44.

  67. 67.

    The services provided by Taksatorringen could be nevertheless still be exempt under the current Art. 132(1)(f) of the VAT Directive. Under that provision Member States shall exempt the supply of services by independent groups of persons who are carrying on an activity which is exempt from VAT or in relation to which they are not taxable persons, for the purpose of rendering their members the service directly necessary for the exercise of that activity, where those groups merely claim from their members exact reimbursement of their share of the joint expenses, provided that such exemption is not likely to cause distortion of competition. The cost for the services provided by Taksatorringen had been apportioned among its members on a pro rata basis, in such a way that an individual member’s payment corresponded exactly to that member’s share of the joint expenses. The Court of Justice ruled that the exemption for supplies of services by independent groups of persons must be refused if there is a real and genuine risk that the exemption may by itself, immediately or in the future, give rise to distortions of competition (paras. 63–65 of the Taksatorringen judgment).

  68. 68.

    Council Directive 77/92/EEC of 13 December 1976 on measures to facilitate the effective exercise of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services in respect of the activities of insurance agents and brokers (ex ISIC Group 630) and, in particular, transitional measures in respect of those activities, [1977] OJ L 26/14. The Directive is no longer in force as it has been repealed by Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation, with effect from 15 January 2005. The latter Directive applies to (re)insurance intermediaries. The provisions no longer provide for a distinction between an insurance agent and broker. Instead, a single concept of ‘intermediaries’ is used. Insurance mediation is defined in Art. 2 as follows: ‘(Re)insurance mediation means the activities of introducing, proposing or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of (re)insurance, or of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim’.

  69. 69.

    Art. 2(1)(a) of Directive 77/92/EEC stipulated that the activities of an insurance broker are ‘professional activities of persons who, acting with complete freedom as to their choice of undertaking, bring together, with a view to the insurance or reinsurance of risks, persons seeking insurance or reinsurance and insurance or reinsurance undertakings, carry out work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance or reinsurance and, where appropriate, assist in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim’.

  70. 70.

    Pursuant to Directive 77/92/EEC, Art. 1(2)(b). Under that provision, activities of an insurance agent are ‘professional activities of persons instructed under one or more contracts or empowered to act in the name and on behalf of, or solely on behalf of, one or more insurance undertakings in introducing, proposing and carrying out work preparatory to the conclusion of, or in concluding, contracts of insurance, or in assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim’.

  71. 71.

    C-8/01, Taksatorringen, EU:C:2003:621, para. 45. See Advocate General Mischo, opinion from 3 October 2002 in C-472/03, Arthur Andersen, EU:C:2002:562.

  72. 72.

    C-472/03, Arthur Andersen, EU:C:2005:135.

  73. 73.

    An internal division of Andersen Consulting Management Consultants.

  74. 74.

    C-472/03, Arthur Andersen, EU:C:2005:135, paras. 34–36. As was noted by Advocate General Poiares Maduro, the essential elements of the definitions in Directives 77/92 and 2002/92 should be taken into consideration for the purpose of interpretation of Art. 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive in order not to lose all contact with legal reality and practice in the area of insurance law. However, such ‘taking into consideration’ should not be confused with an automatic cross-reference. The interpretation of the concepts of the VAT Directive should be always made in the context of the common system of VAT and the VAT Directive.

  75. 75.

    C-472/03, Arthur Andersen, EU:C:2005:135, para. 38.

  76. 76.

    C-124/07, Beheer, EU:C:2008:196.

  77. 77.

    Case C-242/08, Swiss Re, EU:C:2009:647.

  78. 78.

    Case C-242/08, Swiss Re, EU:C:2009:647, paras. 23–28.

  79. 79.

    Case C-242/08, Swiss Re, EU:C:2009:647, paras. 33 et seq.

  80. 80.

    Case C-242/08, Swiss Re, EU:C:2009:647, para. 37.

  81. 81.

    Case C-242/08, Swiss Re, EU:C:2009:647, para. 38.

  82. 82.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15.

  83. 83.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, paras. 65–67.

  84. 84.

    The judgment is an important development in the discussion of what tax regime should apply to commercial transactions which comprise more than one element each of which may potentially attract different VAT treatment. On that issue see, e.g., Liebman and Rousselle (2006), Henkow (2013, 2014).

  85. 85.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, para. 42.

  86. 86.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, paras. 43–45.

  87. 87.

    And consequently that Art. 78(b) of the VAT Directive (pursuant to which the taxable amount shall include incidental expenses, such as packing, transport and insurance costs, charged by the supplier to the customer) did not apply in the circumstances of the case. Where insurance and leasing constitute supplies which are independent from each other, the cost of insurance cannot be considered an incidental expense with respect to a leasing transaction (BGŻ Leasing, para. 49).

  88. 88.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, para. 53.

  89. 89.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, para. 69.

  90. 90.

    C-224/11, BGŻ Leasing, EU:C:2013:15, para. 66.

  91. 91.

    Article 28 of the VAT Directive provides that where a taxable person acting in his own name but on behalf of another person takes part in a supply of services, he shall be deemed to have received and supplied those services himself.

  92. 92.

    For a broader discussion, see Papis (2013).

  93. 93.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488.

  94. 94.

    See the analysis by the Court of Justice in C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, para. 36.

  95. 95.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, paras. 41–44.

  96. 96.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, para. 39.

  97. 97.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, paras. 34 and 43.

  98. 98.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, para. 37.

  99. 99.

    Advocate General Szpunar, opinion from 4 February 2015 in C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:55.

  100. 100.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, para. 38.

  101. 101.

    This is especially so given that one of the scenarios mentioned by the Court, where one party transfers to another the rights arising from the contract which the former concluded in its own name and on its own behalf with a third party, seems to correspond to the scenario in the Swiss Re case, in which the Court excluded a transfer of re-insurance contracts from the concept of an ‘insurance transaction’.

  102. 102.

    Such as the place of supply for the purposes of Arts. 44 and 45 of the VAT Directive.

  103. 103.

    Pursuant to Art. 169(c), if the goods or services are for the purposes of an insurance or reinsurance transaction, including related services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents ‘where the customer is established outside the Community or where those transactions relate directly to goods to be exported out of the Community’, a taxable person shall be entitled to deduct the input VAT relating to those goods and services.

  104. 104.

    C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, para. 45.

  105. 105.

    31st meeting, document XXI/732/92, part I.4.

  106. 106.

    As established under Art. 398 of the VAT Directive, the VAT Committee is an advisory body intended to promote uniform application of the provisions of the VAT Directive. It does not have legislative powers and cannot take legally binding decisions.

  107. 107.

    Cf. the Court’s analysis in C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:488, paras. 48–58.

  108. 108.

    Note, however, the contrary view presented by Advocate General Szpunar, opinion from 4 February 2015 in C-584/13, Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty, EU:C:2015:55.

  109. 109.

    See the Proposal for a Council Directive and the Proposal for a Council Regulation, noted in Sect. 18.1 above.

  110. 110.

    Explanatory Memorandum to the Proposal for a Council Directive.

  111. 111.

    Currently, pursuant to Art. 137 of the VAT Directive, Member States may allow taxable persons a right of option for taxation of financial services. An option to tax is not available for insurance.

  112. 112.

    For a broader analysis of the proposal, see de la Feria and Lockwood (2010).

  113. 113.

    In order to adopt the proposal all the Member States are required to reach unanimity.

  114. 114.

    As far as the scope of insurance is concerned, the amendment to Art. 135(1)(a) was supposed to include a definition of exempt insurance and reinsurance as meaning ‘the acceptance of a commitment by a person to provide another person, in return for payment of a premium, in the event of materialisation of a risk covered, with an indemnity or a benefit as determined by the contract’. Furthermore pursuant to the proposal, the exempt ‘intermediation in insurance and financial transactions’ would be defined as meaning ‘a distinct act of mediation rendered by a third party who brings the parties together and does what is necessary in order for the parties to enter into, maintain, renew or alter a contract in insurance or financial transactions as referred to in points (a) to (gb)’. (This wording is drawn from the last compromise text (from 30 September 2011) of Arts. 135(1)(a) and 135(1)(gd) in the Proposal for Council Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, as regards the treatment of insurance and financial services, 14964/11, LIMITE, FISC 122.).

  115. 115.

    This would be in line with the existing case law regarding the financial sector as opposed to the Court’s interpretation of the current Art. 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive (see discussion in Sect. 18.7 above).

  116. 116.

    Act on the value added tax (Ustawa o padatku od towarów i usług), Art. 434, para. 13.

  117. 117.

    C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2016:172.

  118. 118.

    Discussed above in Sects. 18.7, 18.8 and 18.9 respectively.

  119. 119.

    Discussed in Sect. 18.5.

  120. 120.

    C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2016:172, para. 25.

  121. 121.

    C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2016:172, para. 38. The Advocate General referred to the relationship between Aspiro and the insured party as being of ‘de facto’ rather than ‘de iure’ character (Advocate General Kokott, opinion from 23 December 2015 in C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2015:850, para. 36).

  122. 122.

    C-40/15, Aspiro, EU:C:2016:172, para. 39.

  123. 123.

    C-349/96, CPP, EU:C:1999:93, para. 17.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Law, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Marta Papis-Almansa

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  1. Marta Papis-Almansa
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Correspondence to Marta Papis-Almansa .

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  1. Crowe Horwath LLP , ATLANTA, Georgia, USA

    Robert F. van Brederode

  2. Monash University , Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Richard Krever

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Papis-Almansa, M. (2017). VAT and Insurance: The European Union. In: van Brederode, R., Krever, R. (eds) VAT and Financial Services. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3465-7_18

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