Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2013:292
Date: 2013-05-08
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Bulgaria

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 8 May 2013 1. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Taxable transactions — Retention of goods by a taxable person when he ceases to carry out a taxable economic activity — Cessation of the taxable economic activity — Meaning — Removal of the taxable person from the VAT register — Included (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 18(c)) 2. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Taxable amount — Supply of goods or services — Retention of goods by a taxable person when he ceases to carry out a taxable economic activity — Open market value of the assets in existence at the time of removal from the register cessation — Unlawful — Conditions (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 74) 3. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Taxable amount — Supply of goods or services — Article 74 of Directive 2006/112 — Direct effect (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 74) 1. Article 18(c) of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as also covering the cessation of the taxable economic activity as a result of the removal of the taxable person from the value added tax register. The main objective of that provision is to avoid a situation where the final consumption of goods on which the VAT became deductible is untaxed following the cessation of the taxable economic activity, regardless of the causes or circumstances of that cessation. (see paras 27, 28, operative part 1) 2. Article 74 of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as precluding a provision of national law under which, in the event of the cessation of the taxable economic activity, the taxable amount of the transaction is to be the open market value of the assets in existence at the time of that cessation, unless that value corresponds in practice to the residual value of those goods at that date and account is thus taken of the change in the value of those goods between the date of their acquisition and the date of the cessation of the taxable economic activity. (see para. 35, operative part 2) 3. See the text of the decision. (see paras 38, 40, operative part 3)