Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:96
Date: 1997-02-27
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Spain

Summary of the Judgment 
Tax provisions — Harmonization of laws — Turnover taxes — Common system of value added 
tax — Prohibition on levying other national taxes characterized as turnover taxes — Purpose — 
Concept of 'turnover taxes' — Tax on betting and gambling passed on to the consumer, where 
passing on is not expressly mentioned in the national Uw or recorded in an invoice or other docu­
ment serving as invoice — Included 
(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 33) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-370/95, C-371/95 AND C-372/95 
Since the purpose of Article 33 of the Sixth 
Directive 77/388 on the harmonization of 
the laws of the Member States relating to 
turnover taxes is to prevent the functioning 
of the common system of value added tax 
(VAT) from being compromised by fiscal 
measures of a Member State levied on the 
movement of goods and services, and 
charged on commercial transactions in a 
manner comparable to VAT, the classification 
of a national tax and, consequently, the 
appraisal of its compatibility with Commu­
nity law must be based not only on the 
wording of the relevant national provisions, 
but also on the essential characteristics of the 
tax, and, in particular, the possibility of pass­
ing it on to the consumer. It follows that in 
order for a national tax to be characterized 
as a turnover tax, it is not necessary for the 
relevant national legislation expressly to pro­
vide that it may be passed on to consumers. 
Furthermore, in order for such a tax to be 
characterized as a turnover tax, it is not nec­
essary for the passing on of the tax to the 
consumer to be recorded in an invoice or 
other document serving as invoice. For the 
purposes of the application of the aforesaid 
provision, it is for the national court to 
establish whether the tax at issue is capable 
of being charged on the movement of goods 
and services in a manner comparable to VAT, 
by examining whether it exhibits the essen­
tial characteristics of VAT. That will be the 
case if it is generally applicable, if it is pro­
portional to the price of the services, if it is 
charged at each stage of the production and 
distribution process and if it is imposed on 
the added value of the services. 
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