Case C-266/23, Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy (Actual Cost of energy): Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 13 June 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny – Poland) – A. S.A. v Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Directive 2003/96/EC – Article 2(4)(b), third indent – Article 17(1)(a) – Excise duty – Taxation of energy products and electricity – Electricity used in electrolysis – Tax reductions on the consumption of energy products and electricity for energy-intensive businesses – Purchase of energy products and electricity – Actual cost of energy purchased – Distribution tariffs – Criteria for exemption – Principle of equality and non-discrimination)
Date: 2024-06-13
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: distribution cost, electrical energy, electrical process, electricity supply, energy consumption, energy distribution, equal treatment, excise duty, price of energy, tax exemption








C_202404566EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4566


29.7.2024






Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 13 June 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny – Poland) – A. S.A. v Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy


(Case C-266/23,
                (1)
Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy (Actual Cost of energy))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Directive 2003/96/EC - Article 2(4)(b), third indent - Article 17(1)(a) - Excise duty - Taxation of energy products and electricity - Electricity used in electrolysis - Tax reductions on the consumption of energy products and electricity for energy-intensive businesses - Purchase of energy products and electricity - Actual cost of energy purchased - Distribution tariffs - Criteria for exemption - Principle of equality and non-discrimination)
(C/2024/4566)
Language of the case: Polish

Referring court

Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant: A. S.A.

Respondent: Dyrektor Izby Administracji Skarbowej w Bydgoszczy

Other party: Rzecznik Małych i Średnich Przedsiębiorców

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 17(1)(a) of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity
must be interpreted as meaning that the actual cost of the energy purchased, within the meaning of that provision, must include additional charges, which cannot constitute ‘taxes’ within the meaning of that provision, such as the compulsory distribution tariffs for that energy borne, under national legislation, when purchasing that energy.










2.


Article 17(1)(a) of Directive 2003/96
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which provides that an exemption from excise duty on the purchase of electricity is to be refused to an energy-intensive business, within the meaning of that provision, where that business benefits, in respect of that electricity, from an exemption from excise duty reserved for electricity used in electrolytic processes, even if that business shows that, for the same energy, it would not benefit from those two exemptions at the same time and that the total amount of those exemptions does not exceed the amount of excise duty paid in respect of the same period, provided that the criterion defined by the national legislation in that regard is designed and applied in accordance with the principle of equal treatment.






(1)  
            OJ C 278, 7.8.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4566/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)