European Court of Justice Issues Advocate General Opinion on Germany VAT Rules for Travel Agents

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Nov. 27 issued an Advocate General opinion for Case C-565/24, on German VAT rules for travel agents providing excursions with goods sales. The taxpayer, a German company, organized bus excursions allowing participants to purchase goods, with transportation costs covered partly by excursion fees and sales revenue. The German tax authorities applied the special VAT regime for travel agents, denying input VAT deductions on transportation costs not covered by participant fees. Upon request for a preliminary ruling, the Advocate General opined that the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC must be interpreted as not applying to a ...