Principles of Value Added Tax - A European Perspective

This book puts the theory of value added tax (VAT) into the context of the European single market. In so doing, it introduces senior financial officers and tax practitioners, who may already be familiar with the principles of direct taxation, to VAT. It also provides VAT specialists who, until now, may have concentrated on the VAT system within their own Member State, with a pan-European perspective. Thus it serves a practical, as well as theoretical, purpose. In view of the importance of the European single market to the majority of U.S. (and other) multinationals, it is essential that tax practitioners understand the need for coordinated VAT planning across Europe and for its integration into the mainstream of commercial decision-making. By providing tax practitioners with a strategic overview of the current European VAT system, this book will enable management to achieve this. It also highlights possible future developments which every multinational will need to take into account in defining its strategy for this important market.

The principles of VAT planning within Europe will have a wider application and will be relevant to other VAT/Goods & Services Taxes outside Europe. Furthermore, Chapter 10 in outlining the key issues surrounding a subtraction VAT will equip U.S. practitioners to take part in the growing debate on the desirability of introducing some form of consumption tax.