Case C-269/20: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 1 December 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof — Germany) — Finanzamt T v S (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Value added tax (VAT) — Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC — Second subparagraph of Article 4(4) — Taxable persons — Option for Member States to treat as a single taxable person persons who are legally independent but closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links (‘VAT group’) — National legislation designating the controlling company of a VAT group as a single taxable person — Internal supplies within the VAT group — Article 6(2)(b) — Supplies of services provided free of charge — Concept of ‘purposes other than those of the business’)
Date: 2022-12-01
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, free service, provision of services, public institution, tax exemption, tax harmonisation, tax law, taxpayer








C_2023035EN.01000301.xml










30.1.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 35/3






Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 1 December 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof — Germany) — Finanzamt T v S
(Case C-269/20) (1)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Value added tax (VAT) - Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC - Second subparagraph of Article 4(4) - Taxable persons - Option for Member States to treat as a single taxable person persons who are legally independent but closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links (‘VAT group’) - National legislation designating the controlling company of a VAT group as a single taxable person - Internal supplies within the VAT group - Article 6(2)(b) - Supplies of services provided free of charge - Concept of ‘purposes other than those of the business’)
(2023/C 35/03)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Bundesfinanzhof

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Finanzamt T

Defendant: S

Operative part of the judgment







1.


The second subparagraph of Article 4(4) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment,
must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from designating, as a single taxable person of a group formed by persons who are legally independent but closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links, the controlling company of that group, where that controlling company is in a position to impose its will on the other entities forming part of that group and provided that that designation does not entail a risk of tax losses.










2.


EU law
must be interpreted as meaning that in the case of an entity which is the single taxable person of a group formed by persons who are legally independent but closely bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links, and which carries out, on the one hand, economic activities for which it is a taxable person and, on the other, activities in the exercise of its powers as a public authority, in respect of which it is not considered to be a taxable person liable for value added tax under Article 4(5) of the Sixth Directive, the provision, by an entity forming part of that group, of services in connection with that exercise of powers, must not be taxed under Article 6(2)(b) of that directive.






(1)  OJ C 297, 7.9.2020.