The Compatibility of Turnover-Based Business Taxes with EU Law and WTO Law

The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the compatibility of turnover-based business taxes with various legal regimes that include primary EU law (specifically, State aid rules and the fundamental freedoms), secondary EU law (the VAT directive) and WTO law. Both the examined primary EU law and WTO law provisions essentially prohibit discrimination in the field of taxation; therefore, their similarities and divergences in terms of scope of application, methodological approaches and grounds for potential justifications are thoroughly analysed through the prism of turnover-based business taxes.

The author argues that a system of taxation that spreads the tax burden disproportionately potentially faces conflicts with the non-discrimination regimes under EU and WTO laws. It is particularly dubious whether such differential treatment can be justified by equity considerations such as the objective of taxation in accordance with the ability-to-pay principle when it comes to turnover-based taxes. Furthermore, the book highlights those interferences between the common VAT system and other turnover tax systems that are undesirable and pose a threat to the proper functioning of the VAT system of the European Union.

Also highlighted are the complications resulting from the coexistence of EU law and WTO law. On the one hand, such complications make it challenging for Member States to devise their tax systems in a manner that is both EU and WTO law-proof; on the other hand, they entail limitations on the effect of WTO law within the EU.

The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the compatibility of turnover-based business taxes with various legal regimes, including primary and secondary EU and WTO law.