Traum EOOD v Direktor na Direktsia ‘Obzhalvane i danachno-osiguritelna praktika’ Varna pri Tsentralno upravlenie na Natsionalnata agentsia za prihodite.
Date: 2014-10-09
19. Moreover, it is settled case-law that, in connection with the procedure provided for in Article 267 TFEU, which is based on a clear separation of functions between the national courts and the Court of Justice, the latter is empowered only to give rulings on the interpretation or the validity of a EU law provision on the basis of the facts which the national court puts before it (see judgments in WWF and Others , C‑435/97, EU:C:1999:418, paragraph 31, and Endress , C‑209/12, EU:C:2013:864, paragraph 19 and the case-law cited). As regards, specifically, the alleged omissions and factual errors in the order for reference, it is sufficient to note that it is not for the Court of Justice but for the national court to ascertain the facts which have given rise to the dispute and to establish the consequences which they have for the judgment which it is required to deliver (judgment in PreussenElektra , C‑379/98, EU:C:2001:160, paragraph 40).
22. In order to answer those questions, it should be recalled that an intra-Community supply, which is the corollary of the intra-Community acquisition, is exempt from VAT if the conditions laid down in Article 138(1) of the VAT Directive are satisfied (judgment in Mecsek-Gabona , C‑273/11, EU:C:2012:547, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
24. It is settled case-law that the exemption of VAT in respect of the intra-Community supply of goods becomes applicable only when the right to dispose of the goods as owner has been transferred to the purchaser, the supplier establishes that those goods have been dispatched or transported to another Member State and that, as a result of that dispatch or that transport, they have physically left the territory of the Member State of supply (see, inter alia, judgment in Teleos and Others , C‑409/04, EU:C:2007:548, paragraph 42).
27. In this connection, it is apparent from the Court’s case-law that, in the absence of any specific provision in the VAT Directive as to the evidence that taxable persons are required to provide in order to be granted the exemption from VAT, it is for the Member States to lay down, in accordance with Article 131 of that directive, the conditions in which intra-Community supplies of goods will be exempt, with a view to ensuring the correct and straightforward application of those exemptions and of preventing any possible evasion, avoidance or abuse. However, when they exercise their powers, Member States must observe the general principles of law which form part of the European Union legal order, which include, in particular, the principles of legal certainty and proportionality (judgment in Mecsek-Gabona , EU:C:2012:547, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).
28. The principle of legal certainty, the corollary of which is the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations, requires, on the one hand, that rules of law must be clear and precise and, on the other, that their application must be foreseeable by those subject to them (judgment in Plantanol , C‑201/08, EU:C:2009:539, paragraph 46 and the case-law cited).
29. It must be pointed out that that principle is to be observed all the more strictly in the case of rules liable to entail financial consequences, in order that those concerned may know precisely the obligations which such rules impose on them. It follows that it is necessary that taxable persons be aware, before concluding a transaction, of their tax obligations (see judgment in Teleos and Others , EU:C:2007:548, paragraph 48 and the case-law cited).
30. In that context, the Court has stated that the obligations imposed upon taxable persons with regard to evidence must be determined in the light of the conditions laid down in that regard by national law and in accordance with the general practice established in respect of similar transactions (see judgment in Mecsek-Gabona , EU:C:2012:547, paragraph 38).
42. If that court were to reach the conclusion that it is established, in the light of objective evidence, that Traum knew or should have known that the transaction which it had carried out was part of a tax fraud committed by the purchaser and that it had not taken every step which could reasonably be asked of it to prevent that fraud from being committed, there would be no entitlement to the VAT exemption (see, to that effect, judgment in Mecsek-Gabona , EU:C:2012:547, point 54).
45. According to settled case-law of the Court, whenever the provisions of a directive appear, so far as their subject-matter is concerned, to be unconditional and sufficiently precise, they may be relied upon before the national courts by individuals against the State, regardless of the capacity in which the latter is acting (see, to that effect, judgments in Portgás , C‑425/12, EU:C:2013:829, paragraphs 18 and 23, and Association de médiation sociale , C‑176/12, EU:C:2014:2, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited).
46. In the present case, Article 138(1) of the VAT Directive requires Member States to exempt from VAT supplies of goods which satisfy the conditions listed in that article.