Kuwait Petroleum (GB) Ltd v Commissioners of Customs and Excise: ECJ 27 Apr 1999

‘Items’ described as gifts’ which Kuwait Petroleum exchanged under a petrol promotion scheme for vouchers received by customers purchasing petrol were issued ‘free of charge’. The purchase of petrol and the exchange of vouchers for gifts were separate transactions, and the petrol was sold and invoiced for the price paid, there being nothing to suggest that the price contained a component representing the value of the vouchers or of the redemption goods.
Held: Where goods were supplied as part of sales promotion free to purchasers of petrol, but remained of substantial value, they were chargeable supplies and liable to VAT in the sellers hands. Fennelly: ‘I cannot pretend that it is easy to extract from the case law a completely coherent set of rules which it is possible to apply with total confidence to every promotion scheme devised by the ingenuity of commerce’. However: ‘Goods are supplied ‘for consideration’ within the meaning of art 2(1) of the Sixth Directive only if there is a reciprocal relationship between the supplier and the purchaser entailing reciprocal performance, the price received by the supplier constituting the value actually given in return for the goods supplied . . . ‘

Judges:

Advocate General Fennelly

Citations:

Times 14-May-1999, C-48/97, [1999] STC 488, [1999] EUECJ C-48/97

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

European

Cited by:

CitedLex Services plc v Her Majestys Commissioners of Customs and Excise HL 4-Dec-2003
When taking a car in part exchange, the company would initially offer the correct market value. If the customer wanted, the company would agree a higher price. When cars were returned, the company at first reclaimed the VAT on the re-purchase price, . .
CitedRevenue and Customs v Debenhams Retail Plc CA 18-Jul-2005
The store introduced a system whereby when a customer paid by credit card, the charges made to them for card handling were expressed as a separate amount on the receipt. The store then said that VAT was payable only on the net amount allocated to . .
CitedChurch of England Children’s Society v Revenue and Customs ChD 29-Jul-2005
The Society sent out free newsletters to its unpaid fund-raisers and supporters. They sought to deduct input tax charged to them from the supplies associated with the costs.
Held: The Society might be able to deduct such tax as residual input . .
CitedRevenue and Customs v Aimia Coalition Loyalty UK Ltd SC 13-Mar-2013
The company managed a card loyalty scheme for retailers. The Revenue appealed against a decision that the company could reclaim VAT input tax on the goods purchased on the customers redeeming their points. The ECJ had decided that the service . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

VAT

Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.162045