Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1997:491
Date: 1997-10-16
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Concepts: Supply of services
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. Tax provisions — Harmonization of Uws — Turnover taxes — Common system of value 
added tax — Supply of services for consideration — Definition — Transport provided for 
employees to their place of work by the employer free of charge in the absence of any real 
connection either with the work performed or the wages received — Excluded 
(Coundl Directive 77/388, Art. 2(1)) 
2. Tax provisions — Harmonization of Uws — Turnover taxes — Common system of value 
added tax — Supply of services for consideration — Definition — Private use of business 
goods — Included — Limits 
(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 6(2)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-258/95 
1. Article 2(1) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 
on the harmonization of the laws of the 
Member States relating to turnover taxes 
is to be interpreted as meaning that an 
employer who provides transport for 
employees free of charge from their 
homes to the workplace where they are 
more than a specified distance apart, in 
the absence of any real connection either 
with the work performed or the wages 
received, does not effect a supply of ser­
vices for consideration within the mean­
ing of that provision. 
2. Article 6(2) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 
is to be interpreted as meaning that trans­
port provided for employees free of 
charge by the employer between their 
homes and the workplace in a company 
vehicle serves, in principle, the employ­
ees' private purposes and thus serves pur­
poses other than those of the business. 
However, that provision does not apply 
when, having regard to certain circum­
stances, such as the difficulty of finding 
other suitable means of transport and 
changes in the place of work, the require­
ments of the business make it necessary 
for the employer to provide transport for 
employees, in which case the supply of 
those transport services is not effected for 
purposes other than those of the business. 
The fact that the employer does not con­
vey the employees in its own vehicles but 
commissions one of its employees to pro­
vide the transport using his own private 
vehicle is not relevant in that respect. 
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