VAT: Reduced rate on undertakers' services
France applied a reduced rate of VAT to certain services supplied by undertakers including the transport of the body of the deceased and the provision of hearses of mourners. In EC Commission v French Republic (No 16) (ECJ Case C-94/09) the EC Commission applied to the ECJ for a ruling that this contravened Articles 96 and 98(2) of Directive 2006/112/EC. The ECJ rejected the application holding that 'the transportation of a body by vehicle constitutes a concrete and specific element in the supply of services by undertakers' and that the reduced rate was authorised by Annex III(16) of the Directive. Furthermore 'the application of a reduced rate to the transportation of a body by vehicle' did not 'infringe the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT'.
Why it matters: The EC Commission is pursuing...
