Case C-270/09: Reference for a preliminary ruling from Court of Session (Scotland), Edinburgh (United Kingdom) made on 14 July 2009 — Macdonald Resorts Limited v The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs
Date: 2009-07-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: acquisition of property, contract, contract terms, holiday, housing law, interpretation of the law, provision of services, real property, time-sharing








C_2009267EN.01002602.xml










7.11.2009   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 267/26





Reference for a preliminary ruling from Court of Session (Scotland), Edinburgh (United Kingdom) made on 14 July 2009 — Macdonald Resorts Limited v The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs
(Case C-270/09)
2009/C 267/48
Language of the case: English

Referring court

Court of Session (Scotland), Edinburgh

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Macdonald Resorts Limited

Defendant: The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs

Questions referred







1.


Where MRL, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Club and the contracts associated therewith, makes supplies of contractual rights (‘Points Rights’) which entitle the purchaser to Points redeemable annually for the occupation and use of timeshare accommodation in MRL's resorts, is that supply to be characterised:






(a)


as the leasing or letting of immovable property within the meaning of Article 13B(b) of the Sixth VAT Directive (now Article 135(1)(I) of Directive 2006/112 (1)); or










(b)


as membership of a club; or










(c)


in some other manner?














2.


Does it affect the answer to question 1 that:






(a)


In some cases the contractual rights are acquired in return for the customer depositing with MRL pre-existing rights of occupation held by the customer in timeshare accommodation at a particular place for one or more fixed weeks?










(b)


the customer may in any year decide not to redeem his or her Points entitlement for that year in whole or in part for any rights of occupation and may instead elect to augment his or her entitlement in the following year, or, subject to the contractual conditions of the scheme in any year, may augment that year's entitlement by ‘borrowing’ from his or her entitlement to Points in the following year;










(c)


the properties comprising the pool of accommodation may change between the time when Points Rights are acquired and the time when Points are redeemed for the right to occupy a property;










(d)


the number of Points to which the customer is entitled each year may be varied by the supplier in accordance with the contractual conditions of the scheme;










(e)


The Appellant may from time to time arrange for persons holding Points Rights to have access to an external timeshare programme;










(f)


The Appellant may from time to time make arrangements for persons holding Points Rights to exchange their Points for accommodation in hotels operated by the Appellant or for other benefits provided by the Appellant?














3.


Where a taxable person makes supplies of the services described in questions 1 and 2 above,






(a)


are these ‘services connected with immovable property’ within the meaning of Article 9(2)(a) of the Sixth VAT Directive (now Article 45 of Directive 2006/112);










(b)


if the answer to question 3 a) is ‘Yes’: in circumstances where Members of the Club may exercise their contractual rights by occupying timeshare accommodation in more than one Member State, and it is not known at the time of supply which accommodation will be so occupied, how is the place of supply to be determined?










(1)  Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax
OJ L 347, p. 1