MEO – European Court of Justice finds that an early termination fee was consideration for the contracted service

Subscribers to the services of a Portuguese telecommunications company (“MEO”) agreed to pay for a minimum subscription period - and when they discontinued service before the end of that guaranteed period they were required under the terms of their contracts to pay a lump sum equal to their monthly subscription fee multiplied by the number of remaining months in the guaranteed period. The ECJ found that this lump sum was taxable “consideration” received by MEO for its services on ordinary principles for VAT purposes, stating:

[I]t must be held that the consideration for the amount paid by the customer to MEO is constituted by the customer’s right to benefit from the fulfilment, by MEO, of the obligations under the services contract, even if the customer does not wish to avail himself or cannot avail himself of that right for a reason attributable to him.

In Canada, the distinction between consideration received by the supplier of services pursuant to the services contract, and compensation received by it for termination of the contract, is relevant because the latter amount is deemed by ETA s. 182 to be inclusive of GST/HST.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of MEO — Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia SA v. Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira, ECLI:EU:C:2018:942 (ECJ (5th Chamber)) under ETA s. 123(1) – consideration.