VAT on art transactions: Rémi Sermier is interviewed by Le Quotidien de l'Art

EU Directive 2022/542 on VAT rates, which must be implemented by the end of 2024, has recently caused a wave of concern among art market players, who fear an economic upheaval in their sector. However, the new rules are not without opportunities, as highlighted in an article published on 2 March 2023 by Le Quotidien de l’Art, which interviewed Rémi Sermier, a partner at Pamina Avocats, on this topic. France has now the option of either keeping the VAT margin scheme, in which the standard VAT rate (20%) applies to the commercial margin made by professionals (i.e. difference between acquisition value and resale price), or dropping this scheme in exchange for an extension of the 5.5% reduced rate to all transactions involving works of art (whereas this reduced rate currently applies only to imports and sales by artists of their own works). The Ministry of Economy and Finance has since invited representatives of the sector to a working group to work on the directive’s transposition.