The VAT treatment of the payments on account in distance selling in the light of Consumer Rights Directive

Payments made prior to the delivery of the goods or services are either payments on account or deposits. ECJ has interpreted both concepts and concluded that VAT treatment must differ in both cases. In the cross-border business-to-consumer distance sale transactions consumers have the right to withdraw from the agreements for no reason. This rule is provoking and influencing both traditional contract law and the treatment of advance payments. The analysis in the research concentrates on how and if the consumer's right to withdraw from the distance sales agreements is influencing the application of the notion of payments on account and whether the rules of Consumer Rights protection legislation are influencing the VAT treatment of the transactions. In order to get a deeper knowledge of challenges with advance payments, a closer look is taken at how ECJ, VAT Committee and AG has interpreted the notion of prepayments particularly in connection with the interpretation in the area of distance sales and consumer rights.