SAU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Endeligt svar på spørgsmål 252: MFU spm. om, i forlængelse af svar på EUU alm. del - spørgsmål 38 (2024-25) at oversende svaret fra Estland i sin fulde længde, som de danske myndigheder modtog, herunder oversende evt. korrespondance i forlængelse heraf

<[email protected]>; Elo Madiste <[email protected]>; Paul-Josef.RZEPA-

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

Maksoń

Mariusz

<[email protected]>; [email protected]; Johan Lindqvist <[email protected]>; Sintija

Ozola <[email protected]>; Ioana Roxana IONESCU <[email protected]>

Cc:

Lone Lau-Jensen <[email protected]>

Subject:

DK question / VAT (C-501/19, UCMR-ADA)

Good morning colleagues,

I hope you – and you administration at home – can find the time to give a short reply to a few questions in

relation to the following judgment from the ECJ on 21 January 2021 in C-501/19, UCMR-ADA:

“Article 2(1)(c) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added

tax, as amended by Council Directive 2010/88/EU of 7 December 2010, must be interpreted as meaning that a

holder of copyright in musical works supplies services for consideration to the end user, a performance organiser,

where the latter is authorised, by a non-exclusive licence, to perform those works for a public audience in return

for the payment of remuneration collected by an appointed collective management organisation which acts in its

own name but on behalf of that copyright holder;

Article 28 of Directive 2006/112/EC, as amended by Directive 2010/88, must be interpreted as meaning that a

collective management organisation which collects, in its own name but on behalf of holders of copyright in

musical works, royalties due to them in consideration for the authorisation for the public performance of their

protected works, acts as a ‘taxable person’ within the meaning of that provision and is therefore deemed to have

received the services in question from those rights holders before providing them to the end user itself. In such a

case, that organisation is required to issue invoices in its own name to the end user containing the royalties

collected from the latter, including value added tax (VAT). The copyright holders are, in turn, required to issue to

the collective management organisation invoices including VAT for the services supplied in respect of the royalties

received.”

In other words, the judgment states that giving licence to copyrights is a supply for consideration and therefore

taxable if no specific derogation for exemption can be used – for example the standstill provision in the

directive 2006/112/EC, Annex X, Part B, no. 2.

Questions for consideration:

Have you always seen licensing to copyright as a taxable supply (no matter who is the supplier), or

have you seen it as being outside the scope of the VAT rules, or have you used the standstill provision

for the artists (Annex X, Part B) to exempt collective management organisations?

b) It is necessary for you to amend your national rules to comply with the ruling? If yes, can you in short

explain in what way and if you have already done so?

Background: In Denmark we use the standstill in Annex X, Part B, no. 2, for the artists and have up until the

judgment in C-501/19, UCMR-ADA considered giving licence to copyrights as not being service for

consideration. We are in the process of changing our national VAT rules to comply with the judgment and are

in the process of determining the proper VAT treatment of collective management organisations when they

give license to copyrights.

We would very much appreciate to receive a short answer to these questions before the 28. January 2022.

Thank you very much in advance.

Kind regards,

Kristina

_______________________________________________________

KRISTINA ELLEGAARD RASMUSSEN /

[email protected]

Fiscal Attaché

DIRECT +32 (0) 2 233 09 40 / MOBILE +32 (0) 491 71 63 51

THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATION OF DENMARK TO THE EU

PERMANENT REPRESENTATION OF DENMARK TO THE EUROPEAN UNION / B-1040 BRUXELLES

PHONE +32 (2) 233 0811 /

EU.UM.DK