ECJ Judgment – Although Article 33 of the Sixth Directive prohibits the maintenance or introduction of taxes which have the essential characteristics of VAT, with a view to preventing the introduction of taxes, duties and charges which, through being levied on the movement of goods and services in a way comparable to VAT, would jeopardize the functioning of the common system of VAT, it does not preclude the maintenance or introduction of other kinds of taxes, duties or charges, and in particular stamp duties, which do not have those characteristics.
It follows that the aforesaid provision must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude the introduction or maintenance of a national tax such as French stamp duty charged on the acquisition of building land in the event of a breach of the undertaking to build within the time-limit set by the relevant legislation. That duty is not a general tax; it is not applied at the different stages of a production and distribution process since it is charged only when the real estate passes into the ownership of the final consumer; it is not deductible from duty of the same kind paid on subsequent conveyances and the levying of the duty does not take account of the added value but is based on the full value of the property.
Citations:
C-208/91, [1992] EUECJ C-208/91
Links:
European, VAT
Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160759