Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2023:438
Date: 2023-05-25
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Austria

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Austria) lodged on 11 April 2022 – BM v Gebühren Info Service GmbH (GIS) (Case C-249/22) Language of the case: German Referring court Verwaltungsgerichtshof Parties to the main proceedings Applicant: BM Defendant: Gebühren Info Service GmbH (GIS) Joined parties: Bundesminister für Finanzen, Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) Questions referred Taking into account the primary law provision of Article 151(1) in conjunction with Annex XV, Part IX, No. 2, letter h, first subparagraph, second indent, of the Act concerning the conditions of accession and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, 1 must consideration such as the programme fee of the Österreichischer Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘ORF’), which the public service broadcaster sets itself in order to finance its operation, be regarded as consideration within the meaning of Article 2 in conjunction with Article 378(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC 2 of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax? If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative, must the ORF programme fee referred to therein also be regarded as consideration within the meaning of Directive 2006/112 in so far as persons are obliged to pay it who, although they operate a broadcast receiver in a building which is supplied by the ORF with its terrestrial programmes, cannot receive those ORF programmes because they do not have the necessary receiver module? ____________ 1 Concluded together with the Treaty between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Portuguese Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Member States of the European Union) and the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, concerning the accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union (OJ 1994 C 241, p. 336). 1 Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1).