Does your company provide fuel cards to its subsidiaries or other companies within the same group? In this special newsletter, we would like to inform you on the Judgment of the European Court of Justice No. C-235/18 Vega International Car Transport and Logistic, in which the ECJ has ruled that the provision of fuel cards by a parent company to its subsidiaries, allowing subsidiaries to refuel vehicles which are transported by them, to qualify as a service granting credit, which is exempt from VAT.
Let us demonstrate the considerations of the Court on the following example:
A parent company provides fuel cards to its subsidiaries on the basis of an Agreement with a fuel supplier. Subsidiaries use the cards to refuel vehicles which are in their property. The company receives monthly invoices for all transactions carried out by means of fuel cards. The company recovers input VAT from the fuel and reinvoices the costs of the fuel together with a surcharge of 2% to its subsidiaries.
Tax assessment of individual transactions:
- The parent company applies input VAT from the invoice issued by the fuel supplier
According to the ruling of the Court, the parent company is not entitled to claim reimbursement of VAT, as the company does not dispose of the fuel in respect of the purchase of which it seeks reimbursement of VAT as if it were the owner.
The fuel is purchased directly by the subsidiary from fuel suppliers and only the subsidiary can decide on the arrangement of purchase – i.e. which service station to refuel at and may freely decide on the quality and quantity of fuel, the type of fuel, as well as the date of purchase and means of use.
- The parent company reinvoices the costs of the fuel together with a surcharge of 2% to its subsidiaries
The ruling says that reinvoicing of fuel to subsidiaries is not considered the sales of fuel, as the supply of fuel was not carried out for the benefit of the parent company. The parent company plays no more than an intermediary role by means of fuel cards. Consequently, the parent company provides its subsidiaries with a financial service, which is similar to granting credit, which is exempt from VAT.
