Value added tax shall be paid to the State on such intra-country turnover of goods and services that is taxable. A service which is connected with a property is supplied within the country only if the property is situated here.
The applicant company entered into an agreement with a foreign sub-contractor to assist with investigations for the purpose of enabling the company to apply for a permit to establish an offshore wind farm in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. In an application for an advance tax ruling, the company asked whether the service in question is connected with a property and, if such is the case, whether the property is situated within Sweden.
The Supreme Administrative Court found that the marine area in question is to be considered a property for value added tax purposes and that the service, having as its object the legal or physical alteration of that property, is connected with the property in the manner referred to in Chapter 5, section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act. As Sweden has sovereignty as regards the exploitation of energy from wind farms within the exclusive economic zone, the Supreme Administrative Court found the property to be situated within Sweden. The service was therefore considered to be supplied within the country.
Read the judgment here: