Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA (BBL) v Belgian State.
Date: 2004-10-21
36. It must be noted that under Article 4(1) of the Sixth Directive a taxable person is any person who independently carries out any economic activity specified in paragraph 2 of that article. ‘Economic activities’ are defined in Article 4(2) as comprising all activities of producers, traders and persons supplying services, and in particular the exploitation of tangible or intangible property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis. ‘Exploitation’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) refers, in accordance with the requirements of the principle that the common system of VAT should be neutral, to all those transactions, whatever may be their legal form (see Case C‑186/89 Van Tiem  [1990] ECR I‑4363, paragraph 18; Case C-306/94 Régie dauphinoise  [1996] ECR I‑3695, paragraph 15, and Case C-77/01 EDM  [2004] ECR I-0000, paragraph 48).
37. The purpose of the Sixth Directive, which seeks in particular to found a common system of VAT upon a uniform definition of ‘taxable persons’, requires that status to be assessed solely on the basis of the criteria set forth in Article 4 of that Directive (see Van Tiem , paragraph 25).
38. It must also be pointed out that it is settled case-law that the mere acquisition and holding of shares in a company is not to be regarded as an economic activity within the meaning of the Sixth Directive, conferring on the holder the status of a taxable person. The mere acquisition of financial holdings in other undertakings does not amount to the exploitation of property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis because any dividend yielded by that holding is merely the result of ownership of the property and is not the product of any economic activity within the meaning of that directive (see Harnas & Helm , paragraph 15, and Case C-442/01 KapHag  [2003] ECR I-6851, paragraph 38). I II f, therefore, such activities do not in themselves constitute an economic activity within the meaning of that directive, the same must be true of activities consisting in the sale of such holdings (see Wellcome Trust , paragraph 33, and KapHag , paragraph 40).
39. Likewise, the simple acquisition and the mere sale of other negotiable securities cannot amount to exploitation of an asset for the purpose of obtaining income on a continuing basis, the only consideration for those transactions consisting of a possible profit on the sale of those securities (see EDM , paragraph 58).
41. However, it follows from Article 13B(d)(5) of the Sixth Directive that transactions affecting securities may come within the scope of VAT. The Court has already held that the transactions covered by that provision are those which consist in drawing revenue on a continuing basis from activities which go beyond the compass of the simple acquisition and sale of securities, such as transactions carried out in the course of a business trading in securities (see EDM , paragraph 59).
42. It follows from Article 1(2) of Directive 85/611 that the transactions carried out by SICAVs consist in the collective investment in transferable securities of capital raised from the public. With the capital provided by subscribers when they purchase shares, SICAVs assemble and manage, on behalf of the subscribers and for a fee, portfolios consisting of transferable securities.