VATREG21450 | Voluntary registration: intending traders: EU law

Article 9 of the Principal VAT Directive defines ‘taxable person’ and ‘economic activity’.

Article 9

1. ‘Taxable person’ shall mean any person who, independently, carries out in any place any economic activity, whatever the purpose or results of that activity.

Any activity of producers, traders or persons supplying services, including mining and agricultural activities and activities of the professions, shall be regarded as ‘economic activity’. The exploitation of tangible or intangible property for the purposes of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis shall in particular be regarded as an economic activity.