VAT for Investment Funds

A good understanding of VAT rules is a must in any business, but this is even more crucial when it comes to investment funds where VAT is generally a cost.

Certain services cannot benefit from the specific VAT exemption applicable to the management of special investment funds. There are different interpretations of the scope of the exemption across different EU Member States and there is a growing volume of EU jurisprudence on the subject. Suppliers providing exempt services (management companies, administrative agents, etc.) have to work out how to recover VAT on their purchases.

The introduction of new VAT measures since 1 January 2017 (increase of VAT penalties, introduction of the VAT liability of the directors and de jure or de facto managers of taxable persons) underlines the importance of being fully compliant at all times with the Luxembourg VAT legislation. In particular, it is important that all VAT taxable persons, including investments funds and their suppliers, have sufficient comfort on the VAT treatment applicable to their output and input transactions.

PwC's Academy is happy to offer you an innovative training session which gets you up to speed on the main VAT issues for investment funds such as FCPs, SICAVs, SIFs, SICARs, AIFs and securitization vehicles and their management companies.

Objectives:

By the end of this training, the participants will be able to:

• Describe the main VAT rules applicable to investment funds in Luxembourg.
• Apply the proper VAT treatment of a given transaction and report it correctly in the corresponding VAT returns.
• Identify VAT exposures and opportunities to mitigate the final VAT cost where possible.
• Identify recent and future developments both at local and international levels and the consequences for their business.

Theoretical part:

• Basic VAT rules explained through the "5-question method"
• VAT recovery methodology
• Luxembourg VAT compliance obligations
• Luxembourg updates and CJEU case law

Practical part:

• Case study on the application of the rules, illustrating the main issues, risk areas and opportunities. The case study will consist of analysing the VAT treatment of several transactions and reporting these transactions into a VAT return.