Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:185
Date: 2014-03-27
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Taxation;Value added tax
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 27 March 2014 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Identification of the relevant elements of EU law — Reformulation of the questions (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Taxable amount — Supply of goods or services — Healthcare services provided for consideration by a residential care home for the elderly to its residents — Remuneration of the service provider by means of a lump-sum payment — Lump-sum payment constituting the consideration for the services — Included (Council Directives 77/388, Art. 11A(1)(a) and 2006/112, Art. 73) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 25-27) 2. Article 11A(1)(a) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes and Article 73 of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as meaning that a lump-sum payment constitutes the consideration for the healthcare provided for consideration by a residential care home for the elderly to its residents and, on that basis, falls within the scope of value added tax. Firstly, a supply of services is effected for consideration within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Sixth Directive, and hence is taxable, only if there is a legal relationship between the provider of the service and the recipient pursuant to which there is reciprocal performance, the remuneration received by the provider of the service constituting the value actually given in return for the service supplied to the recipient. Secondly, the taxable amount in respect of a supply of services is, in any event, everything which makes up the consideration for the service. In that regard, it is not necessary for the consideration for that supply to be obtained directly from the person to whom those goods or services are supplied, since it may be obtained from a third party. Moreover, where the supply of services in question is characterised, inter alia, by the permanent availability of the service provider to supply, at the appropriate time, the healthcare services required by the residents, it is not necessary, in order to recognise that there is a direct link between that service and the consideration received, to establish that a payment relates to a personalised supply of healthcare at a specific time carried out at the request of a resident. Accordingly, the fact that the healthcare provided to residents is neither defined in advance nor personalised and that the payment is made in the form of a lump sum is also not such as to affect the direct link between the supply of services made and the consideration received, the amount of which is determined in advance on the basis of well-established criteria. (see paras 29, 30, 34, 36-38, operative part)