Sale and Assignment of Rights to Real Estate – Supply of Goods or Provision of Services?

Abstract

The aim of the article is to classify the assignment of rights to real estate in the context of value added tax. The research method used is based on the analysis of the provisions of the VAT Directive and the related case law of the Court of Justice, as well as national regulations on the supply of goods, with particular emphasis on the supply of real estate. In the author’s opinion, narrowing the analysis only to the supply of goods seems to be sufficient – if a given activity cannot be classified as a supply of goods, it will be considered as a supply of services. The analysis was also carried out taking into account the decisions made in individual interpretations and binding rate information as well as the case law of administrative courts. The issue raised has not been published in the literature on the subject – apart from one study, it has not been taken up in the doctrine. The study entitles us to conclude that the supply of real estate constitutes a supply of goods, while the assignment of rights to real estate made in development and preliminary agreements constitutes the provision of services.