Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:154
Date: 1999-03-18
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Austria

SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-338/97, C-344/97 AND C-390/97 
Summary of the Judgment 
Tax provisions — Harmonisation of laws — Turnover taxes — Common system of value 
added tax — Prohibition on the levying of other domestic charges which can be 
characterised as turnover taxes — Objective — Concept of 'turnover taxes' — Scope — 
Charges akin to the tourism taxes introduced by Austrian Bundesländer — Not covered 
(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 33) 
Sixth Council Directive (77/388) on the 
harmonisation of the laws of the Member 
States relating to turnover taxes and, in 
particular, Article 33 thereof does not pre­
clude a charge akin to the tourism tax 
introduced by the Steiermärkische Touris­
musgesetz (Tourism Law of the Land of 
Styria), the Tiroler Tourismusgesetz (Tour­
ism Law of the Land of Tyrol), or the 
Kärntner Fremdenverkehrsabgabegesetz 
(Law of the Land of Carinthia on the 
charge to promote tourism), payable by 
traders who have an economic interest in 
tourism and calculated in principle on the 
basis of annual turnover and from which 
input tax is not deductible. Such charges 
are not levied on the movement of goods 
and services or on commercial transactions 
in a way comparable to VAT. There is no 
provision for deduction of amounts paid as 
input tax; the charges are not passed on to 
the final consumer in a manner character­
istic of VAT; and the amount is not 
proportional to the price to be paid by the 
customer when each sale is effected or each 
service supplied. 
I - 3320