9.4 Specific types of voucher transactions – what will be discussed in this Chapter

In this Chapter, I examine the EU VAT treatment of voucher transactions. Since 1 January 2019, the EU VAT Directive contains a definition of voucher in Article 30a: “‘voucher’ means an instrument where there is an obligation to accept it as consideration or part consideration for a supply of goods or services and where the goods or services to be supplied or the identities of their potential suppliers are either indicated on the instrument itself or in related documentation, including the terms and conditions of use of such instrument”. However, instruments exist that are not covered by this definition but that are still considered ‘vouchers’, such as price-reduction coupons,1 money off coupons and cash-back coupons2 and other discount cards.3 The VAT treatment of these ‘vouchers’ is not covered by the rules regarding the VAT treatment of vouchers that entered into force on 1 January 2019, but by the ‘general’ EU VAT rules and CJEU case law.

In this Chapter, I will first focus on the current and appropriate VAT treatment of transactions involving vouchers as defined in Article 30a of the EU VAT Directive. I will then look into the current and appropriate VAT treatment of other vouchers. I will separately research the possibility of applying a VAT exemption to (certain) voucher transactions.