Global Tax 50 2014: Skandia

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Global Tax 50 2014: Skandia

ECJ judgement

 Skandia

Skandia is a new entry this year

The ECJ case hinged on the supply by Skandia America Corporation (SAC), a US company without an establishment in the EU, of IT services purchased by SAC from a third party to the company's Swedish branch, Skandia Sverige (SKS), which had joined a Swedish VAT group. VAT was not applied to the costs charged by SAC to SKS, a position disputed by the Swedish tax authorities, and the question was referred to the ECJ. Following the principles of FCE Bank (2006), the taxpayer argued that the supplies from SAC to SKS should be disregarded for VAT purposes as cross-border supplies of services from a company to its EU branch. The ECJ, however, said the services were not a supply from SAC to its branch (SKS), but rather, for VAT purposes, were a supply from SAC to the VAT group to which the branch (SKS) belonged. Therefore the supplies were taxable and the Swedish VAT group of which SKS was a member must account for the VAT due.

The judgement caused huge concern among financial services taxpayers, which benefit from certain VAT exemptions, because of their frequent use of branches to conduct overseas business and of VAT groups to minimise VAT leakage.

There is still a lack of clarity on how member states will apply the ECJ's decision. Some national authorities have issued brief statements pointing out that their VAT grouping rules differ from Swedish VAT grouping rules (as the UK authority did in October) but taxpayers remain in wait-and-see mode. Financial services taxpayers, in particular, will not have welcomed the uncertainty-inducing influence the Skandia case has had during 2014.

The Global Tax 50 2014

View the full list and introduction

Gold tier (ranked in order of influence)

1. Jean-Claude Juncker  2. Pascal Saint-Amans  3. Donato Raponi  4. ICIJ  5. Jacob Lew  6. George Osborne  7. Jun Wang  8. Inverting pharmaceuticals  9. Rished Bade  10. Will Morris


Silver tier (in alphabetic order)

Joaquín AlmuniaAppleJustice Patrick BoyleCTPAJoe HockeyIMFArun JaitleyMarius KohlTizhong LiaoKosie LouwPierre MoscoviciMichael NoonanWolfgang SchäubleAlgirdas ŠemetaRobert Stack


Bronze tier (in alphabetic order)

Shinzo AbeAlberto ArenasPiet BattiauMonica BhatiaBitcoinBonoWarren BuffettECJ TranslatorsEurodadHungarian protestorsIndian Special Investigation Team (SIT)Chris JordanArmando Lara YaffarMcKessonPatrick OdierOECD printing facilitiesPier Carlo PadoanMariano RajoyNajib RazakAlex SalmondSkandiaTax Justice NetworkEdward TroupMargrethe VestagerHeinz Zourek

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

There are unanswered questions as to how foreign investors could reclaim money via tax credits, advisers suggested
Amid an ever-changing tax environment, India’s advisory market is bustling with competition ahead of the 2025 World Tax rankings and ITR Awards
The deal comes after PwC had accused Paul McNab of using confidential information; in other news, McDermott hired a new London tax head from a US rival
Looking at transfer pricing simplification is “obviously helpful”, but it should be done in line with current standards, a senior government figure reportedly said
The UK Government’s plans to close the tax gap via increased HM Revenue and Customs investment have failed to impress local tax advisers
Under the merged scheme for R&D tax relief introduced last year, rules on contracted out R&D have changed. James Dudbridge argues for a proactive approach when reviewing companies’ commercial arrangements
Cultural nuances could account for tax advisers’ perceived poor cost management, a local partner told ITR
Updated rules represent a significant shift in the Luxembourg TP landscape and emphasise the need for robust arm’s-length calculations, says Vanessa Ramos Ferrin of TransFair Pricing Solutions
KPMG Law US revolves around contract managed services and the US is the largest market for that, Stuart Bedford tells ITR in an exclusive interview
The US law firm’s tax counsel tells ITR about inspirations from a ‘legendary’ German tax scholar, perfecting riesling wine and what makes tax cool
Gift this article