7.

The Community provision relevant here is Article 17(3)(c) of the Sixth Council Directive on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (hereinafter ‘the Sixth VAT Directive’), ( 1 ) which provides as follows with regard to input tax deductions: ‘3. Member States shall also grant to every taxable person the right to a deduction or refund of the value added tax referred to in paragraph 2 in so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of: ... (c) any of the transactions exempted under Article 13B(a) and (d), paragraphs (1) to (5), when the customer is established outside the Community or when these transactions are directly linked with goods intended to be exported to a country outside the Community.’ Reference is made there both to Article 17(2) and to provisions of Article 13B, which governs other domestic tax exemptions. Article 17(2) reads: ‘2. In so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of his taxable transactions, the taxable person shall be entitled to deduct from the tax which he is liable to pay: (a) value added tax due or paid in respect of goods or services supplied or to be supplied to him by another taxable person; ...’. Of Article 13B(a) and (d), subparagraphs (1) to (5), which are also cited, only subparagraph (d)(5) is relevant here. That provision reads as follows: ‘Without prejudice to other Community provisions, Member States shall exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward application of the exemptions and of preventing any possible evasion, avoidance or abuse: ... (d) the following transactions: ... 5. transactions, including negotiation, excluding management and safekeeping, in shares, interests in companies or associations, debentures and other securities, excluding: — documents establishing title to goods, — the rights or securities referred to in Article 5(3)’. The basic definition of a ‘taxable person’ is to be found in Article 4 of the Sixth VAT Directive. That definition reads as follows: ‘1. “Taxable person” shall mean any person who independently carries out in any place any economic activity specified in paragraph 2, whatever the purpose or results of that activity. 2. The economic activities referred to in paragraph 1 shall comprise all activities of producers, traders and persons supplying services including mining and agricultural activities and activities of the professions. The exploitation of tangible or intangible property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis shall also be considered an economic activity. ...’. Significance also attaches to Article 2, which specifies the activities that are subject to value added tax: ‘1. the supply of goods or services effected for consideration within the territory of the country by a taxable person acting as such; 2. the importation of goods.’ Against the background of the main proceedings as thus outlined, the national tribunal has now submitted to the Court for a preliminary ruling the following questions concerning those rules of Community law: ( 2 ) (1) Is the term ‘economic activities’ in Article 4(2) ( 3 ) capable of covering sales of shares and securities by a person who is not a dealer in shares and securities? (2) Can a multiplicity of share sales by a person who is not a dealer in shares to a large number of purchasers on the same day involving sophisticated preparation over a considerable period of time of itself constitute ‘economic activities’ within Article 4(2)? (3) If the reply to Question 1 and/or 2 is in the affirmative, are share sales by such a trustee to be regarded as effected by a ‘taxable person acting as such’ within Article 2(1)? (4) In answering Questions 1 and/or 2 and/or 3, is it relevant to consider whether the sale of shares and securities is the predominant concern of the activity in the course of which the sales take place; and, if so, how should such activity and its extent be defined?