9.3 Is the supply of a voucher the supply of a right or does it embody the right to a supply?

From an EU VAT perspective, the supply of a right (for consideration) can be a taxable transaction. After all, any transaction that does not constitute a supply of goods is a supply of services.1,2 And in the EU VAT Directive, even the supply of goods is defined as the transfer of a right (the “right to dispose of tangible property as owner”).3 Other examples of taxable transactions regarding rights are the conferring by a landlord on a tenant, for an agreed period and in return for payment, of the right to occupy property as if that person were the owner and to exclude any other person from enjoyment of such a right,4 the supply of the exclusive right to install and operate cigarette machines for a specific period of time on the premises of someone else,5 the supply of a right to make use of a golf club’s facilities in exchange for a membership fee6 and the supply of the right, against payment, to catch fish in a specific part of a river.7 Options are also rights: rights to buy or sell a particular thing at a specified price within a set time.8 The supply of such options for consideration (the ‘premium’) is the supply of a service. Other types of rights are intellectual property rights, such as patents, copyright, industrial design rights, plant varieties (plant breeders' rights) and trademarks. It can also be argued that entrance tickets (e.g. to concerts or museums) and travel tickets (e.g. a train ticket or a boarding card for an air journey) embody rights: the right to enter the designated premises (at, during or before a certain time) or the right to be transported (at during or before a certain time).

The concept of a ‘right’ is very broad, as demonstrated by the above examples. Therefore, it is in my view impossible to determine the VAT consequences of ‘the supply of a right’. In this Section, I will elaborate on the VAT treatment of transactions regarding rights.