It is a truism that the legal system lags behind societal and technological developments. The common system of VAT is no exception. The objective of this thesis is to examine how the existing VAT rules applies to virtual assets, in particular NFTs and purchasable collectibles in computer games. The aim is to study how transactions with these assets are classified from a VAT perspective and to evaluate whether this classification is compatible with the VAT neutrality principle and the function of VAT as a general tax on final consumption. One finding related to the classification part of this thesis is that these transactions, which often involve a token and an underlying asset, are treated as a composite supply of services and not a supply of goods for VAT purposes. This implies that the special scheme for second-hand goods cannot be applied. Other classification aspects to assess whether the supply falls within the scope of VAT and whether the supply is taxed or exempt, are also analyzed. There is no ground for NFTs or other virtual assets to be exempt generally. Though, certain types or functions for NFTs may be exempt as financial transactions. The evaluation concludes that the existing rules are partly adapted to handle transactions with these types of virtual assets conducted in a virtual environment. However, the existing rules could lead to an unmotivated double taxation, which may preclude the pursuit of economic activities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-525629 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Lööf, Villiam |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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