Keywords
Summary

Keywords

Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Exemptions laid down by the Sixth Directive – Exemption for the letting of immovable property – Meaning – Grant of a licence in return for a payment set essentially on the basis of the area occupied – Included – Condition – Contracts having as their essential object the making available, in a passive manner, of premises or parts of buildings in exchange for a payment linked to the passage of time

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 13B(b))

Summary

Article 13B(b) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes must be interpreted as meaning that transactions by which one company, through a number of contracts, simultaneously grants associated companies a licence to occupy a single property in return for a payment set essentially on the basis of the area occupied and by which the contracts, as performed, have as their essential object the making available, in a passive manner, of premises or parts of buildings in return for a payment linked to the passage of time, are transactions comprising the ‘letting of immovable property’ within the meaning of that provision and not the provision of a service capable of being categorised in a different way.

(see para. 28, operative part)