9.6.1 Transport tickets, admission tickets to cinemas and museums, postage stamps or similar

The fifth recital in the preamble to the definitive ‘VAT Voucher Directive’1 states that the provisions regarding vouchers should not trigger any change in the VAT treatment of transport tickets, admission tickets to cinemas and museums, postage stamps or similar. Although no explanation was given as to why these instruments are not affected by the rules in the EU VAT Directive on the VAT treatment of voucher transactions, it is clear that these instruments are not covered by the definition of ‘voucher’ in Article 30a of the EU VAT Directive. Businesses have no “obligation to accept it as consideration or part consideration for a supply of goods or services”.2 These instruments rather represent proof that a payment was made for a future transaction, e.g. admission to a means of transport that ensures that the holder is transported to the agreed destination, the admission to a cinema to watch a certain film on a certain date at a certain time, to be admitted to a museum and to have mail sent to a specific destination. These services all seem to be covered by the outcome of the Air France-KLM case, where the CJEU ruled that “the airline company fulfils the service by enabling the passenger to benefit from those services”3 and that “the airline company which sells a transport ticket fulfils its contractual obligations where it puts the passenger in a position to claim his rights to the services provided for by the transport contract”.4

Issuing these vouchers (admission tickets, stamps and similar instruments) for consideration should trigger the VAT on the amount of consideration received to become payable under Article 65 of the EU VAT Directive. At the moment that the businesses ‘fulfil the service by enabling their customers to benefit from those services’ and ‘put their customers in a position to claim their rights to the service provided by those businesses’, the service is deemed to be performed. Only if, for example, a business would go bankrupt after receiving the prepayment but before ‘fulfilling the service’, a right to recover overpaid VAT should exist because the relevant taxable supply was never made.

The taxable amount for the supply is the payment actually received for the instruments, less the VAT on those services. If these vouchers are provided free of charge, the VAT treatment of the supply to which the voucher relates is determined in Articles 16 and 26 of the EU VAT Directive. The supply of free goods should be taxed, unless the goods qualify as gifts of small value or as samples.5 The supply of free services is only subject to VAT if made for purposes other than those of the business making the supply of those services.6