In Sjelle Autogenbrug I/S v Skatteministeriet (Case C-471/15) (22 September 2016) the Advocate General considered that practical difficulties in ascertaining the purchase price of second-hand vehicle spare parts did not justify excluding them from the margin scheme.
Sjelle Autogenbrug I/S’s main activity was the resale of used motor vehicle parts which it removed from end-of-life vehicles. The issue was whether those motor vehicle parts could be classified as ‘second-hand goods’ under the Principal VAT Directive art 311(1)(1) which provides for a special margin scheme for second-hand goods. Under this scheme the taxable amount namely the total profit margin made by the taxable dealer is equal to the difference between the selling price charged by the taxable dealer for the goods and the purchase price.
The Advocate General observed that a difficulty arises when the vendor of second-hand goods is a taxable dealer. Since the goods are...