ECJ rules 'retainer' contract for services liable to VAT

This case concerned when a 'chargeable event' (tax point) occurred under a 'retainer' contract for advisory services. The parties had agreed that the service providers would make themselves exclusively available to the Taxpayer, and the Taxpayer would pay a fixed fee weekly in arrears, irrespective of how much advice had been provided. The ECJ held that the service supplied was not the advice but the service provider making itself available, and that the weekly payment created a tax point for the supply of being available for the previous week (Asparuhovo Lake Investment Company OOD: C-463/14).