Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2013:861
Date: 2013-12-19
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 19 December 2013 1. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Exemptions — Supplies of services closely linked to sport or physical education — Scope — Non-profit-making body managing a golf course and offering a scheme permitting temporary access rights to visiting non-members of that body — Included (Council Directive 2006/112, Arts 132(1)(m) and 134(b)) 2. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Exemptions — Supplies of services closely linked to sport or physical education —Exclusion from the exemption — Not permissible (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 133(d)) 1. Article 134(b) of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as not excluding from the exemption in Article 132(1)(m) of that directive a supply of services consisting in the grant, by a non-profit-making body managing a golf course and offering a membership scheme, of the right to use that golf course to visiting non-members of that body. Accordingly, the term ‘additional income’ within the meaning of Article 134(b) of Directive 2006/112 cannot be construed in such a way as to lead to a restriction of the scope of the exemption in Article 132(1)(m) of that directive on the basis of the status of the recipients of the abovementioned supply as members or non-members, a criterion that was deliberately excluded when the exemption was defined. An interpretation of the term ‘additional income’ so as to cover the green fees paid for the use of a golf course by visiting non-members of a non-profit-making body managing that golf course and also offering a membership scheme, on the ground that those green fees are additional to the income from the subscriptions paid by the members of that body, would lead precisely to such a restriction of the scope of the exemption in Article 132(1)(m) of Directive 2006/112. (see paras 29, 30, 32, operative part 1) 2. Article 133(d) of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as not allowing the Member States to exclude from the exemption in Article 132(1)(m) of that directive a supply of services consisting in the grant of the right to use the golf course managed by a non-profit-making body offering a membership scheme when that supply is provided to visiting non-members of that body. In this connection, the scope of the exemptions in Article 132(1)(b), (g), (h), (i), (l), (m) and (n) of Directive 2006/112 is defined not only by reference to the substance of the transactions covered, but also by reference to certain criteria that the suppliers must satisfy. In providing for exemptions from value added tax defined by reference to such criteria, the common system of value added tax implies the existence of divergent conditions of competition for different operators. Consequently, Article 133(d) of Directive 2006/112 cannot be construed in such a way as would enable the difference in the conditions of competition stemming from the very existence of the exemptions provided for under EU law to be eliminated, since such a construction would call in question the scope of those exemptions. (see paras 36, 37, 39, operative part 2)