Case C‑412/15

TMD Gesellschaft für transfusionsmedizinische Dienste mbH

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Finanzamt Kassel II - Hofgeismar,

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Hessisches Finanzgericht)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Taxation — Value added tax — Directive 2006/112/EC — Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest — Article 132(1)(d) — Supplies of human organs, blood and milk — Scope — Plasma of human blood transformed and used for industrial purposes’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 5 October 2016

Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Exemptions — Exemptions for certain activities in the public interest — Supplies of human organs, blood and milk — Concept of human blood — Plasma of human blood transformed and used for industrial purposes — Not included

(Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 132(1)(d))

Article 132(1)(d) of Directive 2006/112 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted to the effect that supplies of human blood which Member States are required to exempt by virtue of that provision do not include supplies of plasma obtained from human blood where that plasma is intended to be used, not for direct therapeutic purposes, but exclusively for the manufacture of medicinal products.

Article 132(1)(d) of Directive 2006/112 concerns only transactions directly linked to healthcare or which have a therapeutic purpose. Therefore, so-called ‘industrial’ plasma, that is to say, plasma the supply of which does not contribute directly to activities in the public interest, since it is intended to be incorporated into an industrial production, in particular with a view to manufacturing medicinal products, cannot come under the exemption referred to in in that provision. Consequently, only plasma actually intended for direct therapeutic use comes under the exemption laid down in Article 132(1)(d) of Directive 2006/112.

(see paras 31, 35, 36, 40, operative part)