Skatteverket v David Hedqvist.
Date: 2015-10-22
25. The same is true for traditional currencies, since it involves money which is legal tender (see, to that effect, judgment in First National Bank of Chicago , C‑172/96, EU:C:1998:354, paragraph 25).
27. As regards, in the second place, the supply of services for consideration, it must be recalled that a supply of services is effected ‘for consideration’ within the meaning of Article 2(1)(c) of the VAT Directive, and is therefore subject to VAT, only if there is a direct link between the services supplied and the consideration received by the taxable person (judgments in Loyalty Management UK and Baxi Group , C‑53/09 and C‑55/09, EU:C:2010:590, paragraph 51 and the case-law cited, and Serebryannay vek , C‑283/12, EU:C:2013:599, paragraph 37). Such a direct link is established if there is a legal relationship between the provider of the service and the recipient pursuant to which there is reciprocal performance, the remuneration received by the provider of the service constituting the actual consideration given in return for the service supplied to the recipient (judgment in Le Rayon d’Or , C‑151/13, EU:C:2014:185, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
29. The Court has already held that it is irrelevant, for the purposes of determining whether a supply of services is effected for consideration, that the remuneration does not take the form of a payment of a commission or specific fees (judgment in First National Bank of Chicago , C‑172/96, EU:C:1998:354, paragraph 33).
33. As a preliminary point, it should be borne in mind that, in accordance with the Court’s case-law, the exemptions laid down in Article 135(1) of the VAT Directive constitute independent concepts of EU law whose purpose is to avoid divergences in the application of the VAT system as between one Member State and another (see, inter alia, judgments of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken , C‑540/09, EU:C:2011:137, paragraph 19 and the case-law cited, and DTZ Zadelhoff , C‑259/11, EU:C:2012:423, paragraph 19).
34. It is also established case-law that the terms used to specify those exemptions are to be interpreted strictly, since they constitute exceptions to the general principle that VAT is to be levied on all services supplied for consideration by a taxable person (judgments in Ludwig , C‑453/05, EU:C:2007:369, paragraph 21, and DTZ Zadelhoff , C‑259/11, EU:C:2012:423, paragraph 20).
35. Nevertheless, the interpretation of those terms must be consistent with the objectives pursued by the exemptions laid down in Article 135(1) of the VAT Directive and comply with the requirements of the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT. Thus, the requirement of strict interpretation does not mean that the terms used to specify the exemptions referred to in Article 135(1) must be construed in such a way as to deprive the exemptions of their effect (see, inter alia, judgments in Don Bosco Onroerend Goed , C‑461/08, EU:C:2009:722, paragraph 25; DTZ Zadelhoff , C‑259/11, EU:C:2012:423, paragraph 21; and J.J. Komen en Zonen Beheer Heerhugowaard , C‑326/11, EU:C:2012:461, paragraph 20).
36. In that regard, it is clear from the Court’s case-law that the purpose of the exemptions laid down in Article 135(1)(d) to (f) of the VAT Directive is, inter alia, to alleviate the difficulties connected with determining the taxable amount and the amount of VAT deductible (see, inter alia, judgment in Velvet & Steel Immobilien , C‑455/05, EU:C:2007:232, paragraph 24, and the Order in Tiercé Ladbroke , C‑231/07 and C‑232/07, EU:C:2008:275, paragraph 24).
37. Moreover, the transactions exempt from VAT under those provisions are, by their nature, financial transactions even though they do not necessarily have to be carried out by banks or financial institutions (see judgments in Velvet & Steel Immobilien , C‑455/05, EU:C:2007:232, paragraphs 21 and 22 and the case-law cited, and Granton Advertising , C‑461/12, EU:C:2014:1745, paragraph 29).
39. The transactions exempted under that provision are thus defined according to the nature of the services provided. In order to be regarded as exempt transactions the services in question must, viewed broadly, form a distinct whole, fulfilling the specific, essential functions of a service described in that provision (see judgment in Axa UK , C‑175/09, EU:C:2010:646, paragraphs 26 and 27 and the case-law cited).
40. It is clear from the wording of Article 135(1)(d) of the VAT Directive, read in the light of the judgment in Granton Advertising (C‑461/12, EU:C:2014:1745, paragraphs 37 and 38), that the transactions referred to in that provision concern services or instruments that operate as a way of transferring money.
45. In that regard, it must be recalled that the concepts used in that provision must be interpreted and applied uniformly in the light of the versions in all the languages of the European Union (see, to that effect, judgments in Velvet & Steel Immobilien , C‑455/05, EU:C:2007:232, paragraph 16 and the case-law cited, and Commission  v Spain , C‑189/11, EU:C:2013:587, paragraph 56).
47. Where there are linguistic differences, the scope of the expression in question cannot be determined on the basis of an interpretation which is exclusively textual. That expression must therefore be interpreted in the light of the context in which it is used and of the aims and scheme of the VAT Directive (see judgments in Velvet & Steel Immobilien , C‑455/05, EU:C:2007:232, paragraph 20 and the case-law cited, and Commission  v Spain , C‑189/11, EU:C:2013:587, paragraph 56).
54. As regards, finally, the exemptions laid down in Article 135(1)(f) of the VAT Directive, it suffices to recall that that provision covers, inter alia, transactions in ‘shares, interests in companies or associations, debentures and other securities’, namely securities conferring a property right over legal persons and ‘other securities’ that have to be regarded as being comparable in nature to the other securities specifically mentioned in that provision (judgment in Granton Advertising , C‑461/12, EU:C:2014:1745, paragraph 27).