SK Telecom Co Ltd

In SK Telecom Co Ltd (Case C-593/19) (15 April 2021) the CJEU held that roaming charges made by a South Korean mobile phone provider to South Korean customers visiting Austria ought to have been subject to Austrian VAT under use and enjoyment rules.

SKT (the South Korean based mobile phone provider) had incurred VAT on fees charged by an Austrian network operator in respect of its (non-taxable) South Korean customers who were temporarily visiting Austria and who during their visits were ‘establishing incoming and outgoing connections’. The fees were in turn passed onto the South Korean customers in the form of ‘roaming charges’.

SKT initially sought to recover the VAT incurred on the fees under a 13th Directive refund claim. However this was rejected on the basis that the services that SKT was providing to its South Korean customers were covered by the Austrian provisions on...