Italy and the European Union: The Curious Case of Secondment of Personnel

Abstract

The decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in San Domenico Vetraria See IT: ECJ, 11 Mar. 2020, Case C-94/19, San Domenico Vetraria SpA v. Agenzia delle Entrate, Case Law IBFD. has outlined the contrast between the VAT Directive and the Italian law as far as the VAT treatment of secondment of personnel is concerned. The way the decision will be implemented, however, remains unclear. In this article, the authors intend to provide a brief overview of the entire matter by retracing the law and the case law developments until the recent judgments of the Italian Supreme Court (Supreme Court), IT: Supreme Court, 2 Mar. 2021, Case 5601, Telearena v. Agenzia delle entrate; IT: Supreme Court, 2 Mar. 2021, Case 5609, Agenzia delle entrate v. La Carpi Cooperativa Società; IT: Supreme Court, 24 Mar. 2021, Case 8324, AF Motors S.r.l. v. Agenzie delle entrate; IT: Supreme Court, 27 May 2021, Case 14716, S.p.A. Romana Calcestruzzi v. Agenzia delle entrate; IT: Supreme Court, 9 June 2021, Case 16067, Agenzia delle entrate v. Towertel S.p.A.; IT: Supreme Court, 19 July 2021, Case 20589, Novolegno SpA., incorporante Xilopack Srl v. Agenzia delle entrate. which have transposed the interpretation given by the ECJ.