'Peelings' and botox pay 23% of VAT even if performed by a doctor
"Aesthetic treatments such as 'peels', botox applications or facial mesotherapy are not exempt from VAT even if performed by a doctor and are subject to the 23% rate", says the Tax and Customs Authority (AT).
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Economia IVA
"Aiming for merely aesthetic purposes, such services do not deserve to be included in the exemption provided for in paragraph 1) of article 9.º of the CIVA, nor in any other exemption provided for in this article", refers the AT, in response to questions raised by a taxpayer through binding information, now disclosed.
According to the information provided, the taxpayer intends to focus its activity on "providing aesthetic medicine services, aesthetic medicine consultations with treatments and medical-aesthetic procedures, namely, "dynamic wrinkle treatment with botulinum toxin", "deep filling/hydration with hyaluronic acid", "dermal redensification", "deep peels, facial and body mesotherapy and medical laser".
All these procedures, it adds, "will be provided exclusively by a specialist doctor, in a medical office appropriate for clinical practice and in the context of a medical consultation". The medical products and pharmaceuticals will be purchased by the taxpayer, and the respective VAT will be borne.
In view of this framework, the AT questions whether the part that includes medical services benefits from VAT exemption and whether the VAT on the products it purchases can be deducted.
In its response, the AT resorts to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the interpretation of VAT rules to conclude that, in aesthetic medicine, the ECJ's position has been that the provision of aesthetic treatment surgery services "may be covered by the concept of healthcare services [...] when they are intended to treat or assist persons who, following an illness, an injury or a congenital physical impairment, require an intervention of an aesthetic nature".
However, when the intervention is intended for purely cosmetic purposes, "it cannot be covered by this concept, and the exemption from tax is excluded", concludes the tax authority.
Read also: Are you paying too much IMI? Find out what you can do to lower the amount (Portuguese version)
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