Case C‑430/14

Valsts ieņēmumu dienests

v

Artūrs Stretinskis

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Augstākā tiesa)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Customs union — Community Customs Code — Article 29(1)(d) — Determination of the customs value — Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 — Article 143(1)(h) — Definition of ‘related persons’ for the purposes of determining the customs value — Kinship relationship between the buyer, a natural person, and the director of the company which sold the goods’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 21 January 2016

Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Value for customs purposes — Transaction value — Determination — Concept of related persons — Kinship relationship between the buyer, a natural person, and the director of the company which sold the goods — Kin of the buyer having, within the legal person, the power to influence the sales price of those goods for the benefit of that buyer — Included

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, Art. 29(1)(d); Commission Regulation No 2454/93, Art. 143(1)(h))

Article 143(1)(h) of Regulation No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 46/1999, must be interpreted as meaning that a buyer, who is a natural person, and a seller, which is a legal person, within which a kin of that buyer actually has the power to influence the sales price of goods for the benefit of that buyer, must be regarded as being related persons within the meaning of Article 29(1)(d) of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97.

In that respect, Article 143(1) of Regulation No 2454/93 lists, in accordance with Article 29(2)(a) of the Customs Code, situations in which the sales price of the goods concerned is capable of being influenced by the relationships existing between the parties to the transaction. Under Article 143(1)(h) of that regulation, that is the case, in particular, where those parties are members of the same family.

The likelihood of persons in a kinship relationship being able to influence the sales prices of imported goods similarly exists where the seller is a legal person within which the buyer’s kin has the power to influence the sales price for the buyer’s benefit.

In those circumstances, and having regard to the objectives pursued by EU legislation on customs valuation, to rule out, from the outset, that a buyer and a seller may be regarded as being related persons, within the meaning of Article 143(1)(h) of Regulation No 2454/93, on the ground that one of the parties to the sales contract is a legal person, would undermine the effectiveness of Article 29(1)(d) of the Customs Code. In that case, the revenue authorities would be denied the possibility of examining, pursuant to Article 29(2)(a) of the Customs Code, the circumstances specific to the sale concerned, even though there are reasons for supposing that the transaction value of the imported goods may have been influenced by a kinship relationship between the buyer and a member of the legal person which sold the goods.

For the purposes of assessing whether a natural person, acting within a legal person which sold the goods, has the power to influence the sales price of imported goods for the benefit of a buyer to whom he is related, the functions carried out by him within that legal person, or, as the case may be, the fact that he is the sole person to carry out an activity within that legal person are relevant factors which the revenue authorities must take into account.

(see paras 24-29, 31, operative part)