X v Staatssecretaris van Financiën.
Date: 2012-07-19
17. Secondly, it is important to bear in mind that it is apparent from the case-law that it is the acquisition of an item by a taxable person acting as such that gives rise to the application of the VAT system and therefore of the deduction mechanism. The use to which the item is put, or intended to be put, merely determines the extent of the initial deduction to which the taxable person is entitled under Article 17 and the extent of any adjustments in the course of the following periods (Case C-97/90 Lennartz  [1991] ECR I-3795, paragraph 15). By contrast, where a taxable person acquires goods solely for his private requirements, he is acting in a private capacity and not as a taxable person within the meaning of the Sixth Directive (Case C-20/91 de Jong  [1992] ECR I-2847, paragraph 17).
19. In that regard, it is apparent from the case-law that it is in particular a taxable person’s intention, confirmed by objective evidence, to use an item or a service for business purposes which makes it possible to determine whether, at the time when he carries out the input transaction, the taxable person is acting as such and must therefore be entitled to deduct the VAT payable or paid in respect of that item or services (see, to that effect, Lennartz , paragraph 8 and Case C-400/98 Breitsohl [2000] ECR I-4321, paragraph 34).
23. As regards the objective evidence which may be used to assess whether, in a particular case, a taxable person has acquired goods for the purposes of his economic activity, it must be borne in mind that that evidence includes, inter alia, the nature of the goods concerned and the period between the acquisition of those goods and their use for the purposes of the taxable person’s economic activity (see, to that effect, Lennartz , paragraph 21).
24. Although it is for the national court to determine the factual situation in a particular case, the Court may provide it with any guidance as to interpretation that is helpful to it in disposing of the case.
31. The Court has already held that the fact that goods acquired for the purposes of an economic activity are not used immediately for those economic activities is not, in principle, capable of affecting the right to deduct the input VAT (see, to that effect, Lennartz , paragraphs 14 and 15).
33. It is apparent from the case-law relating to the mixed use of capital goods that varies over time that any interpretation to the contrary could lead to the taxable person being denied deduction of input VAT in respect of subsequent taxable business uses, despite the taxable person’s initial wish to treat the goods in question, in their entirety, as forming part of the assets of the business, with future transactions in mind. In such a situation, the taxable person would not be relieved entirely of the burden of the tax relating to the item which he uses for the purposes of his economic activity and the taxation of his business activities would lead to double taxation contrary to the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT, of which the Sixth Directive forms part (see, to that effect, Case C-460/07 Puffer  [2009] ECR I-3251, paragraphs 45 and 46).