Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2010:730
Date: 2010-12-02
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgment Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Supply of services – Transactions comprising several elements (Council Directive 77/388, Art. 2(1), and 13B(d)(1) and 3) For the purposes of collecting value added tax, the additional charges invoiced by a provider of telecommunications services to its customers, where the latter pay for those services not by Direct Debit or by Bankers’ Automated Clearing System (BACS) transfer but by credit card, debit card, cheque or cash over the counter at a bank or authorised payment agent acting on behalf of that service provider, do not constitute consideration for a supply of services distinct and independent from the principal supply of services consisting in the supply of telecommunications services. Such an activity, which customers are unable to access separately from the use of telecommunications services, can offer such customers nothing that is independent of the telecommunications service concerned. A service must be regarded as ancillary to a principal service if it does not constitute for customers an aim in itself, but a means of better enjoying the principal service supplied. (see paras 25, 27, 32, operative part)