Kaplan International colleges UK Ltd v The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
Date: 2020-11-18
34


As a preliminary point, it should be noted that it follows from the exemption provided for in Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112 that the independent group of persons is a taxable person in its own right, separate from its members. It is clear from the very wording of that provision that the independent group of persons is independent, and that it therefore makes supplies of services independently, within the meaning of Article 9 of Directive 2006/112. Furthermore, if the services supplied by the independent group of persons were not services supplied by a taxable person acting as such, those services would not be subject to VAT, under Article 2(1)(c) of Directive 2006/112. Those services would therefore not be capable of forming the subject matter of an exemption, such as that set out in Article 132(1)(f) of that directive (judgment of 4 May 2017, Commission v Luxembourg, C‑274/15, EU:C:2017:333, paragraph 61).
36


In that regard, it is apparent from recitals 25 and 35 of Directive 2006/112 that that directive seeks to harmonise the taxable amount for VAT and that the exemptions from that tax constitute independent concepts of EU law which, as the Court has previously held, must be placed in the general context of the common system of VAT introduced by that directive (see, to that effect, judgment of 20 November 2019, Infohos, C‑400/18, EU:C:2019:992, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
37


In addition, it is clear from settled case-law that the terms used to specify the exemptions from VAT set out in Article 132 of Directive 2006/112 must be interpreted strictly, since those exemptions constitute exceptions to the general principle that all services supplied for consideration by a taxable person are subject to that tax. Nevertheless, the interpretation of those terms must be consistent with the objectives pursued by those exemptions and comply with the requirements of the principle of fiscal neutrality inherent in the common system of VAT. Accordingly, the requirement of strict interpretation does not mean that the terms used to specify the exemptions referred to in Article 132 should be construed in such a way as to deprive the exemptions of their intended effects. It is not the purpose of the case-law of the Court to impose an interpretation which would make the exemptions concerned almost inapplicable in practice (judgment of 4 May 2017, Commission v Luxembourg, C‑274/15, EU:C:2017:333, paragraph 50 and the case-law cited).
39


In accordance with settled case-law, in interpreting a provision of EU law, it is necessary to consider not only its wording but also the context in which it occurs and the objectives pursued by the rules of which it is part (judgment of 20 November 2019, Infohos, C‑400/18, EU:C:2019:992, paragraph 33 and the case-law cited).
40


As regards the context of Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112, it must be stated that that provision appears in Chapter 2, entitled ‘Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest’, in Title IX of that directive. That heading indicates that the exemption provided for in that provision covers only independent groups of persons whose members carry on activities in the public interest (judgment of 21 September 2017, Commission v Germany, C‑616/15, EU:C:2017:721, paragraph 44).
42


As regards the aim of Article 132(1)(f), within Directive 2006/112, it is necessary to recall the purpose of all of the provisions of Article 132 of that directive, which is to exempt from VAT certain activities in the public interest with a view to facilitating access to certain services and the supply of certain goods by avoiding the increased costs that would result if they were subject to VAT (judgment of 21 September 2017, Aviva, C‑605/15, EU:C:2017:718, paragraph 28 and the case-law cited).
43


Thus, the services provided by an independent group of persons come within the exemption provided for in Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112 where the provision of those services contributes directly to the exercise of activities in the public interest referred to in Article 132 of that directive (judgment of 21 September 2017, Aviva, C‑605/15, EU:C:2017:718, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
45


In that regard, it should be borne in mind that the effect of implementing the scheme established in Article 11 of Directive 2006/112 is that national legislation adopted on the basis of that provision allows persons, in particular companies, which are bound to one another by financial, economic and organisational links no longer to be treated as separate taxable persons for the purposes of VAT but to be treated as a single taxable person. Thus, where that provision is implemented by a Member State, the closely linked person or persons within the meaning of that provision cannot be treated as a taxable person or persons, within the meaning of the first subparagraph of Article 9(1) of Directive 2006/112 (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 May 2008, Ampliscientifica and Amplifin, C‑162/07, EU:C:2008:301, paragraph 19).
46


It follows that treatment as a single taxable person precludes members of a VAT group from continuing to submit VAT declarations separately and from continuing to be identified, within and outside their group, as individual taxable persons, since the single taxable person alone is authorised to submit such declarations. It follows that, in such a situation, supplies of services made by a third party to a member of a VAT group must be considered, for VAT purposes, to have been made not to that member but to the actual VAT group to which that member belongs (judgment of 17 September 2014, Skandia America (USA), filial Sverige, C‑7/13, EU:C:2014:2225, paragraph 29).
47


Therefore, for VAT purposes, services supplied by an independent group of persons to members of a VAT group cannot be regarded as being supplied to those members individually, but must be regarded as being supplied to the VAT group as a whole (see, by analogy, judgment of 17 September 2014, Skandia America (USA), filial Sverige, C‑7/13, EU:C:2014:2225, paragraph 30).
49


However, that provision expressly refers only to supplies of services by independent groups of persons to their members. It does not refer to supplies of services by an independent group of persons to a VAT group whose members are not also all members of that independent group of persons. Since the conditions for exemption are precisely formulated, any interpretation which broadens the scope of Article 132(1)(f) of Directive 2006/112 would be incompatible with the objective of that provision (see, to that effect, judgment of 15 June 1989, Stichting Uitvoering Financiële Acties, 348/87, EU:C:1989:246, paragraph 14).