In C Nigl and others v Finanzamt Waldviertel (Case C-340/15) (12 October 2016) the CJEU found that partnerships which had strong business ties operated as independent taxable undertakings but that they could be denied the application of the flat-rate scheme.
The appellants managed vineyards through three family partnerships but no partnership agreement had been drafted. A company Wein-Gut Nigl had also been formed by members of the family which purchased wine from the partnerships in order to sell it to retailers or end consumers.
Each partnership separately operated vineyards which it owned or leased employed workers and owned its own equipment. Wine bottling however was carried out at a shared facility; and the wines produced by the three partnerships were marketed under a common trademark ‘Weingut Nigl’ by Wein-Gut.
The Austrian tax authorities considered that there was one...
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