Forum Contributions: Why (Most) Sales of Digital Assets are Not Electronically Supplied Services

From virtual sofas to cryptoassets, the sale of things which exist in the virtual world only forms part of our modern life. In the VAT Committee’s 123rd Meeting, a delegation challenged the view that such sales can be classified as electronically supplied services (ESS) per se. This article argues that that objection was well-founded. This is because, on closer examination, human intervention is (often) at the core of what the seller supplies to the buyer when a digital asset is sold, not merely a minimal feature.