Conclusion of a civil law contract as a premise for the municipality to act as a taxable person of tax on goods and services (VAT)

Abstract

The research goal undertaken in this article is to answer two questions. First, can a municipality’s legal tax status in the field of tax on goods and services (VAT) in each transaction always be determined precisely? Second, is the conclusion of a civil law contract by a Polish municipality a sine qua non condition for it to obtain VAT taxable status? Theses presented in the publication, and arguments clearly indicate that with the VAT system in force in the European Union, including Poland, it is not always possible to precisely define the status of a municipality as a taxpayer in a given transaction; and the conclusion of a civil law contract by a municipality is not always sufficient for it to obtain the status of a taxpayer in a given transaction. The research material used includes domestic and foreign substantive law, doctrine and practice, in which current case law of tax authorities, administrative courts and the CJEU plays a special role.