Case C-785/23, Bulgarian posts: Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 19 June 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad – Bulgaria) – Direktor na Direktsia Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite v Bulgarian posts EAD (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Taxation – Common system of value added tax – Directive 2006/112/EC – Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest – Article 132 – Public postal services – Directive 97/67/EC – Article 12 – Universal postal service provider – Concepts of public postal service and public interest service)
Date: 2025-06-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: VAT, delivery, postal service, price regulations, provision of services, services of general interest, tax exemption, trade licence, universal service








C_202504249EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/4249


11.8.2025






Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 19 June 2025 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Varhoven administrativen sad – Bulgaria) – Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite v ‘Bulgarian posts’ EAD


(Case C-785/23,
                (1)
Bulgarian posts)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Taxation - Common system of value added tax - Directive 2006/112/EC - Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest - Article 132 - Public postal services - Directive 97/67/EC - Article 12 - Universal postal service provider - Concepts of ‘public postal service’ and ‘public interest service’)
(C/2025/4249)
Language of the case: Bulgarian

Referring court

Varhoven administrativen sad

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant: Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Sofia pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalna agentsia za prihodite

Respondent:
            ‘Bulgarian posts’ EAD

Interested party: Varhovna administrativna prokuratura

Operative part of the judgment

Article 132(1)(a) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, read in the light of the second and fourth indents of Article 12 of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service, as amended by Directive 2008/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008,
must be interpreted as precluding supplies of postal services provided, in accordance with separate contracts, by a holder of an individual licence to provide the universal postal service from benefiting from the value added tax exemption provided for in Article 132, when such supplies, which are intended to meet the special needs of the persons concerned without being offered to all users, are provided under different, more favourable conditions than those approved by the national authority designated in the Member State concerned to regulate the universal postal service or those provided for in the standards relating to that service.


(1)  OJ C, C/1842/2024.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/4249/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)