Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF COMBINED TRIPS 621 agencies. It is a badly called “travel agency” regime, regulated among the arts. 306 to 310 of Directive 2006/112/EC, and in articles 141 to 147 of the VATL. Indeed, its nomenclature is erroneous or misleading, because it is not for all the economic activities of the travel agencies and, even, it is not only for them, but for any economic operator, subject of VAT, that offers certain services with certain requirements that we will immediately discuss. Its name induces that all the services provided by such agencies or assimilated operators are controlled by this specific regime, which is not so, since the same agency will have to self-liquidate its VAT in a differentiated way, liquidating part of its activity or operations according to the norms of the general regime of the VAT, while another part of its activity will do it by this special and mandatory regime of the travel agencies. In short, it is not a special regime of travel agencies, but a special regime for certain services offered mostly by travel agencies, and may be offered by other assimilated operators that act (here is their scope) in their own name with respect to travellers and use in the realization of the trip, goods delivered or services provided by other businessmen or professionals ( vid. art. 141 One 1st VATL). This approach wants to separate the VAT of any subjectivist approach, thus guaranteeing the neutrality of the tax so that, in this way, its form of settlement does not respond to the legal regime or commercial nature of the taxpayer, but to the activity itself that it lends 39 . The special regime for Spanish travel agencies suffered a harsh pronouncement by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its Judgment of September 26, 2013,EuropeanCommissionCaseagainstSpain(Aranzadi,T.J.C.E./2013/320) 40 . As a result, the amendment of the regulation that regulates it to adapt it to EU VAT directives took place. There are several objectives that are pursued with this special and mandatory treatment of the travel agency regime, correctly analyzed by the most attentive doctrine 41 , by community and internal jurisprudence and, even, by administrative 39 Binding consultation of the GDT n. V0180-08, 1/2/2008, Aranzadi, JT./2008/372. 40 Vid. CALVO VÉRGEZ, J.: “El régimen especial de las agencias de viaje en el I.V.A. a la luz de la sentencia del T.J.U.E. de 26 de septiembre de 2013”, Quincena Fiscal Aranzadi, n. 7, Abril-2014, p. 145-157; and IGLESIAS CARIDAD, M.: “El régimen especial de las agencias de viajes en la Ley del I.V.A española a la luz de la S.T.J.U.E. de 26 de septiembre de 2013, Caso Comisión contra España”, Ars Iuris Salmanticensis-Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Salamanca , Vol. 2, n. 1, junio 2014, p. 322-325. 41 SÁNCHEZ GALLARDO, F.J.: “El régimen especial de las agencias de viaje. Algunos comentarios a la jurisprudencia del T.J.C.E.”, Carta Tributaria, Monografías , 3/2006 p. 3. In the Portuguese doctrine see URÍA MENÉNDEZ-PROENÇA DE CARVALHO: O regime especial do I.V.A. nas agências de viagens e a sua aplicaçao em Portugal, http://www.uria.com/documentos/publicaciones/2947/documento/port27411_.pdf?id=2702 , p. 3. In the Italian doctrine see MARCO, P.: “Regime I.V.A. Speciale anche per i pacchetti turistici venduti a soggetti diversi dai viaggiatori”, Corriere Tributario , n. 47/2013, p. 3700.