Delivery of goods & services

An example of a combination of the delivery of goods and the provision of services

An owner of a restaurant selling a take-away meal delivers a good. This delivery is not subject to ABB because the restaurant owner is not a manufacturer.

Assessing the combination of a delivery of goods and the provision of services

With respect to combinations of the delivery of goods and the provision of services, you can use the following principles when assessing whether it concerns the delivery of a good or the provision of a service or various services:

• If the performance consists of a series of elements and actions, all circumstances will need to be considered;
• Each performance (delivery or service) must be assessed separately and independently. As a rule, this also applies to the separate performances that are part of a compound performance. However, if a single performance is provided from the perspective of the consumer, in an economic sense, this performance must not be artificially separated. For example: the assembly of components that are used for the maintenance of a car is considered a service;
• The fact that one price is charged is not decisive for the assessment whether one or more performances take(s) place. If a fixed fee is charged, irrespective of whether the offered ancillary work is purchased, this ancillary work will be more likely to be considered as additional performances. Example: An entrepreneur rents out cars. The rent for the car also includes a roadmap. One price is charged for the entirety of this performance. Two performances can be identified in this situation: the rental (= service) and the delivery of the roadmap (= good). The roadmap cannot be purchased separately and will, as an additional performance, make the main performance (= rental) more attractive;
• In a compound performance, the most characteristic elements of this performance determine whether the entirety of the performance can be considered a single delivery or service and how this performance must be qualified from the perspective of the consumer. For example: eating a meal at a restaurant. The performance will be considered a single service;
• Additional performances follow the qualification of the main performance to which they are subordinate. Additional performances are performances that are not a goal in itself for the modal customer and make the main performance more attractive. An additional performance can also be a method to benefit from the other performance to the greatest extent possible. These are performances that are performed together with another performance (in a single transaction) and have a minor impact on the overall price of the transaction in question and are provided by the same supplier.

Another example of a combination of the delivery of goods and the provision of services

The accountant preparing the annual accounts and capturing this in a report. The accountant provides a service. This concerns an accountancy service, the paper report only captures/packages the service.

Not sure?

The assessment whether a performance can be considered a delivery or provision of a service or multiple services can be difficult. If you are not sure, you can contact B/CN.