Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2012:352
Date: 2012-06-14
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Bulgaria

Summary – Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 18 October 2012 1. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation – Common system of value added tax – Deduction of input tax – Adjustment of the original deduction – Aim (Council Directive 2006/112, Arts 185 to 187) 2. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation – Common system of value added tax – Deduction of input tax – Adjustment of the original deduction – Change in the factors used to determine the amount to be deducted – Meaning – Destruction of a building and its replacement by a more modern building which fulfils the same purpose – Not included (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 185(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 31) 2. Article 185(1) of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as meaning that the destruction of several buildings intended for energy production and their replacement by more modern buildings which fulfil the same purpose as the demolished buildings does not constitute a change, after the VAT return was made, in the factors used to determine the amount of VAT to be deducted as input tax, and, therefore, does not lead to an obligation to adjust the deduction made. The replacement of old buildings with more modern buildings which fulfil the same purpose and, consequently, are used for taxable output transactions in no way breaks the direct link between the input acquisition of the buildings at issue, on the one hand, and the economic activities carried out thereafter by the taxable person, on the other. The acquisition of the buildings at issue and their subsequent destruction with a view to modernising them can, therefore, be regarded as a series of linked transactions for the purposes of subsequent taxable transactions in the same way as the acquisition of new buildings and their direct use. That interpretation must apply a fortiori where the buildings acquired were only partially destroyed, new buildings were built on the same land which had been acquired previously, and certain waste arising from the demolition of the old buildings was sold, which gave rise to taxable output transactions. (see paras 34 to 36, operative part)