Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2011:532
Date: 2011-07-28
Language of the case: Finnish
Court formation: Fourth Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgment Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Exemptions provided for in the Sixth Directive – Banking transactions covered by Article 13B(d)(3) and (5) (Council Directive 77/388, Article 13B(d)(3) and (5)) Article 13B(d)(3) and (5) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes must be interpreted as meaning that the exemption from value added tax under that provision does not cover electronic messaging services for financial institutions, such as swift services. If swift services are electronic messaging services which are simply intended to transmit information, they do not by themselves perform any of the functions of one of the financial transactions referred to in Article 13B(d)(3) and (5) of the Sixth Directive, that is to say, those that have the effect of transferring funds or securities, and do not therefore possess the character of such transactions. (see paras 34, 40, operative part)