Aesthetic procedures such as peels, Botox applications or facial mesotherapy are not exempt from VAT, even if they are carried out by a doctor, and are subject to a rate of 23%, the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) indicates.
“For purely aesthetic purposes, such services do not merit inclusion either in the exception provided for in paragraph 1) of Article 9 CIVA, or in any other exception provided for in this article,” states AT in response to questions raised by the taxpayer through mandatory information , which has now been revealed.
According to the information provided, the taxpayer intends to focus its activities on “providing aesthetic medicine services, aesthetic medicine consultations with medical and aesthetic procedures and procedures, namely: “dynamic treatment of wrinkles with botulinum toxin”, “filling/deep hydration with hyaluronic acid”. “, “thickening of the dermis”, “deep peelings, mesotherapy of the face and body and medical laser.”
All these procedures, he adds, “will be carried out exclusively by a medical specialist in a medical office suitable for clinical practice and as part of a medical consultation.” Goods and pharmaceuticals for medical use will be purchased by the taxpayer with payment of the appropriate VAT.
In this context, AT questions whether the portion comprising medical services is exempt from VAT and whether VAT can be deducted on the products it purchases.
In its response, AT uses the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the interpretation of VAT rules to conclude that in aesthetic medicine the position of the CJEU was that the provision of surgical services for the treatment of an aesthetic nature “can be covered by the concept of assistance services […] when their purpose is to treat or provide assistance to people who, as a result of illness, injury or congenital physical disability, require intervention of an aesthetic nature.”
When the intervention has purely cosmetic purposes, “it cannot fall within this concept and the exemption” from tax is excluded, the tax authorities conclude.