Skatteverket v. David Hedqvist

On 22 October 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that the purchase of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency is exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT) for the European Union member states. 

The question “whether Bitcoins constitute ‘other negotiable instruments’ within the exemption covered under Article 135(1)(d)?” was brought before the European Court of Justice when the Swedish Tax Authority appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden against the opinion of the Swedish Revenue Law Commission that the exchange of traditional currencies for Bitcoins and vice versa is not subject to VAT. 

This is the first ever decision on the subject of cryptocurrency and is therefore regarded as a landmark case.