In Finanzamt Essen Nord-Ost v GFKL Financial Services AG (ECJ Case C-93/10) the ECJ held that ‘an operator who at his own risk purchases defaulted debts at a price below their face value does not effect a supply of services for consideration’ and ‘does not carry out an economic activity falling within the scope of that directive when the difference between the face value of those debts and their purchase price reflects the actual economic value of the debts at the time of their assignment’.
Why it matters: The ECJ held that the sale and purchase of bad debts was not a supply of services giving rise to a VAT liability.
