3.2.2 A supply of services

Under the EU VAT Directive, a supply of services shall mean any transaction which does not constitute a supply of goods.1 This explains why only a definition of ‘goods’ is included in the EU VAT Directive. The EU VAT Directive does provide provision that include examples of services2 and that prescribe certain transactions to be treated as the supply of services for consideration.3

Technically, the ‘catch-all’ definition of services is not entirely accurate. Both the intra-Community acquisition of goods and the importation of goods are transactions that do not constitute the supply of goods.4 However, it is clear that these transactions do not qualify as services either.