taxud/2414/08 - European Commission - Europa

Prepaid card services cover scenarios where the card holder spends money which has
been "stored" via a prior uploading of the card by the card-holder or someone else; such
card services do not provide for a lending of money.
3. There is the issue of "time to pay/ deferment of payments" which is not explicitly
resolved by the provisions of the Regulation and which has been discussed with Member
States for verifying how the rules are to be applied. Usually such services are part of the
price paid for the supply of goods or services. It is for that reason that Article 135 (1c) of
the draft Directive provides for that where the supply of goods or services includes the
granting of credit which is not set out separately, the grant of credit shall not be a distinct
service exempted under Article 135 (1) (b) of the draft Directive.
However, in scenarios where such time to pay/ deferment of payments is not accessory to
another supply but a separate and distinct service on its own, it could in the view of DG
Taxud represent the lending of money even if this lending only consists in the debtor
being able to keep his own money for the agreed period.
(dd) guaranteeing of debts
Under Article 135a (3) of Directive 2006/112/EC "guaranteeing of debts" means the
acceptance of liability for the debt of another person. This provision is complemented by
Article 4 of the Regulation which provides for the following:
1. The definition of the "guaranteeing of debts" provided for in point (3) of
Article 135a of Directive 2006/112/EC shall cover the provision of at least the
following 13 :
(a) credit default swaps;
Credit default swaps have the effect of transferring the credit exposure of credits between
parties. It is an agreement between a protection buyer and a protection seller whereby the
buyer pays a periodic fee in return for a contingent payment by the seller upon a credit
happening in the reference entity. Most CDS contracts are physically settled, where upon
a credit event the protection seller must pay the par amount of the contract against the
protection buyer's obligation to deliver a bond or loan of the name against which
protection is being sold. The typical term of a CDS contract is five years, although being
an over-the-counter derivative almost any maturity is possible. Against this background a
CDS is a typical financial instrument for the guaranteeing of debts;
(b)
customs bonds.
Customs bonds represent a guarantee for credited customs duties and taxes in default;
2. The definition of the "guaranteeing of debts" provided for in point (3) of
Article 135a of Directive 2006/112/EC shall not cover the following:
13 Financial futures, options and interest swaps are dealt with in Article 19 of the Regulation
23