Taxable dealers EU VAT case law

4 cases of the Court of Justice and the General Court of the European Union on this point of VAT law, from 2018 to 2025.

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Provisions these cases interpret most

Article 316 of Directive 2006/112/EC Special arrangements for taxable dealers · 2 of these cases
Article 311 of Directive 2006/112/EC Special arrangements for second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items and antiques · 1 of these cases
Article 288 of Directive 2006/112/EC Exemptions · 1 of these cases
Article 315 of Directive 2006/112/EC Special arrangements for taxable dealers · 1 of these cases
Article 314 of Directive 2006/112/EC Special arrangements for taxable dealers · 1 of these cases
Article 322 of Directive 2006/112/EC Special arrangements for taxable dealers · 1 of these cases

The 4 cases, most recent first

Under each case, what the Court decided, from its summary. The summaries are AI-generated and are not official documents: open the case for the Court’s own text.

C-433/24 Galerie Karsten Greve

Judgment · 1 August 2025 · France

Margin scheme where the artist sells through a company

The Court held that supplies to a taxable dealer by a creator or successors in title acting through a legal person do fall within Article 316(1)(b), so the dealer may opt for the margin scheme. Two conditions apply: the supply must be attributable to the creator or successors in title, which is presumed where they set up the legal person to market the creator's works, and it must be the first introduction of the works onto the EU market, with no earlier supply subject to VAT. Galleries and dealers buying from artists' marketing companies, studios or estate vehicles can now opt for the margin scheme on resale, and an assessment or dispute resting on the corporate form alone no longer stands. Relevant to French assessments and to the equivalent Article 103 reduced-rate wording.

C-180/22 Mensing II

Judgment · 13 July 2023 · Germany

Margin scheme, acquisition VAT and the profit margin

The acquisition VAT forms part of the taxable amount. "Purchase price" in Article 312(2) covers only what the dealer pays his supplier, not tax paid to the Treasury, and the VAT to be deducted under Article 315 is that on the sale itself. Fiscal neutrality and the aim of preventing double taxation cannot override clear wording, even though domestic purchases and self-imports (Article 317, second paragraph) are treated more favourably. Only the EU legislature can change this. Art and antiques dealers using the margin scheme for works acquired cross-border from creators or their successors face a higher taxable amount than on equivalent domestic purchases or own imports, because acquisition VAT is neither deductible nor a margin reduction.

C-388/18 B (Turnover of a dealer in second-hand vehicles)

Judgment · 29 July 2019 · Germany

Turnover threshold for small enterprises where the margin scheme applies

Article 288 precludes national legislation or practice calculating the reference turnover using only the profit margin. The word "taxed" qualifies the supplies, not their value, so it is enough that the supplies are taxed, however they are taxed. Turnover must be based on all amounts (excluding VAT) received or to be received. The small enterprise scheme and the margin scheme are autonomous and independent. Neither imports concepts from the other. For dealers in second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items and antiques the small enterprise threshold is measured on gross receipts, not on margin.

C-264/17 Mensing

Judgment · 29 November 2018 · Germany

Margin scheme for works of art acquired intra-Community from the artist

The option in Article 316(1)(b) is autonomous and additional to Article 314, so Member States cannot make it conditional on the Article 314 categories. The margin scheme is therefore available on resale of works of art acquired from the creator or successors in title via an exempt intra-Community supply. But a dealer invoking the Directive directly takes the scheme on the Directive's terms. He cannot combine it with deduction of the acquisition VAT precluded by Article 322(b), even if that provision is untransposed. Art dealers, galleries and auction operators buying directly from artists or their heirs in other Member States can rely on Article 316(1)(b) to apply the margin scheme on resale, notwithstanding national rules restricting it to domestic input supplies.