Case C-335/05: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Köln by order of that court of  24 August 2005  in Rizeni Letoveho Provozu UR SP v Bundesamt für Finanzen
Date: 2005-12-10
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: GATS, VAT, interpretation of the law, most favoured nation, tax harmonisation, tax rebate, third country

C 315/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.12.2005

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bács-Kiskun
Megyei Bíróság by order of that court of 12 July 2005 in
Ilona Németh v Vám- és Pénzügyőrség Dél-Alföldi Regio-
nális Parancsnoksága

placed in circulation and of
remained in (lawful) circulation?

the time during which it

(1) OJ 1977, L 145, p. 1.

(Case C-333/05)

(2005/C 315/14)

(Language of the case: Hungarian)

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht
Köln by order of that court of 24 August 2005 in Rizeni
Letoveho Provozu UR SP v Bundesamt für Finanzen

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the Euro-
pean Communities by order of the Bács-Kiskun Megyei Bíróság
of 12 July 2005,
the Court Registry on 14
September 2005, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
between Ilona Németh and Vám- és Pénzügyőrség Dél-Alföldi
Regionális Parancsnoksága on the following questions:

received at

1. May a tax imposed by a Member State, such as the
Hungarian registration tax, be considered to be a customs
duty or a levy having equivalent effect?

2. If Question 1 is answered in the negative, may a tax
imposed by a Member State, such as the Hungarian registra-
tion tax — which requires payment of a tax as a precondi-
tion for the registration and placing into circulation of a
passenger car — be considered to be a type of tax?

3. If Question 2 is answered in the negative, is a tax imposed
by a Member State, such as the Hungarian registration tax,
compatible with the requirements of Article 90 EC or with
Article 33 of Directive 77/388/EEC (1), or does
the
Hungarian registration tax infringe the common system of
value added tax?

(Case C-335/05)

(2005/C 315/15)

(Language of the case: German)

Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the Euro-
pean Communities by order of the Finanzgericht Köln (Finance
Court, Cologne) of 24 August 2005, received at the Court
Registry on 15 September 2005, for a preliminary ruling in the
proceedings between Rizeni Letoveho Provozu UR SP and
Bundesamt
für Finanzen (Federal Finance Office) on the
following question:

Is Article 2(2) of Thirteenth Council Directive 86/560/EEC of
17 November 1986 (1) on the harmonization of the laws of the
Member States relating to turnover taxes to be interpreted
restrictively as meaning that the possibility thereby afforded the
Member States of making refunds of value added tax condi-
tional on the grant by non-Member States of comparable
advantages in regard to turnover taxes, does not refer to States
which, as contracting parties to the General Agreement on
Trade in Services — GATS — (BGBl. II 1994, 1473, 1643),
may rely on the most-favoured nation clause contained therein
(Art. II(1) GATS)?

4. As Community law now stands,

is a tax imposed by a
Member State, such as the Hungarian registration tax,
compatible with the provisions of Community law when
the amount of the registration tax payable on new and used
passenger cars — without taking into account the environ-
mental classification of the vehicles — does not in any way
reflect the depreciation in value of used vehicles and is
wholly independent of the date on which the vehicle was

(1) OJ L 326, p. 40.