Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2016:1
Date: 2016-01-12
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling;Reference for a preliminary ruling - decision unnecessary
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 2 June 2016 1. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Taxable transactions — Import of goods — Re-exportation of goods as non‑Community goods — Goods which are no longer covered by the arrangements following their re-exportation — Undue tax — Customs debt incurred exclusively on the basis of Article 204 of Regulation No 2913/92 — No effect (Council Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005, Art. 204; Council Directive 77/388, as amended by Directive 2004/66, Art. 7(3)) 2. Customs union — Import duty — Repayment — Scope — Value-added tax — Not included — Tax not lawfully due (Council Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005, Arts 204 and 236(1); Council Directive 2006/112, Arts 60 and 61) 1. Article 7(3) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes, as amended by Directive 2004/66, must be interpreted as meaning that value added tax on goods which have been re-exported as non-Community goods is not due where those goods have not been removed from the customs arrangement provided for in that provision at the date of their re-exportation but were removed from that arrangement as a result of their re-exportation, and that is the case even where a customs debt is incurred exclusively on the basis of Article 204 of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005. (see para. 71, operative part 1) 2. Article 236(1) of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005, read in conjunction with the provisions of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax, must be interpreted as meaning that, in a situation where the goods at issue remained under the external transit procedure until the date at which they were re-exported, since value added tax on goods which have been re-exported as non-Community goods is not due where those goods have not been removed from the customs arrangement provided for in Article 61 of that directive, and that is the case even where a customs debt is incurred exclusively on the basis of Article 204 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005, nobody is liable for payment of the value added tax. Article 236 of Regulation No 2913/92 must be interpreted as not being applicable in situations relating to the repayment of value added tax. (see para. 83, operative part 2)