The effect of the commission's proposed amendments to the EU VAT directive on insurance

Abstract

This dissertation examines the exemption without credit regime applicable to insurance services. Particular allusion is accorded to Maltese VAT legislation as transposed from the VAT Directive, together with pertinent ECJ case law. Theoretical and practical considerations indicate that the applicable regime represents a fundamental structural imperfection of the common VAT system. It appears that political considerations have comprised tax efficiency, with political, social and economic motives being at the fore front of the present approach. This dissertation questions the proposals issued by the European Commission. While theoretically valid, these will be much more difficult to implement, due to the strong opposition of various stakeholders directly affected by them. Overall, with the backing of semi-structured interviews, the study is an attempt to give a local flavour to the European Commission's proposed amendments.