The VAT Exemption Regime in Guinea-Bissau: A Comparison with the Exemption Regime in Portugal, WAEMU and ECOWAS

In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption regime in Portugal, UEMOA, ECOWAS, and Guinea-Bissau. We sought to provide an overview of the implementation of this tax in the different legal systems and to identify the points of convergence and divergence between the regimes analyzed, offering a panoramic view of a very interesting subject that has sparked some controversy in doctrine, insofar as the inclusion of so-called incomplete or false exemptions, either for reasons of general or social interest, or due to the technical complexity and specificity of certain operations, has been pointed out as a cause of competitive distortions that call into question the neutrality of the tax.
This study also reveals the importance of VAT for the economy and the many challenges that its effective implementation requires. For a practical understanding of certain exemptions, we illustrate some case law from the CJEU, which served to enrich the study.

Keywords: VAT, exemptions, consumption, companies, revenue collection, internal transactions, exports, EU Community Directives, UEMOA and ECOWAS.