Case C‑177/12

Caisse nationale des prestations familiales

v

Salim Lachheb and Nadia Lachheb

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de cassation (Luxembourg))

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Social security — Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 — Family benefit — Child bonus — National regulation providing for a benefit to be granted by way of an automatic tax rebate for children — Non-cumulation of family benefits’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 24 October 2013

Social security — Migrant workers — Family allowances — Meaning — Child bonus granted automatically to compensate for the maintenance of a child corresponding to a set amount without link to the income or the tax owed by the applicant — Included — Cash benefit payable under the national tax law regime, with its origin in a tax reduction for children — No effect

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 1(u), (i), and 4(1)(h))

Articles 1(u)(i) and 4(1)(h) of Regulation No 1408/71, in the version amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, as amended by Regulation No 647/2005, must be interpreted as meaning that a benefit such as the child bonus introduced by the law of a Member State provided for by way of automatic rebate in the tax reduction is a family benefit within the meaning of that regulation.

In the first place, such a benefit constitutes a social security benefit since it is, first, automatically granted in the case where there is a dependent child in order to compensate for the maintenance of that child, and, second, it corresponds to a set amount, granted automatically, without any link to the income or the tax owed by the applicant.

In the second place, according to Article 1(u)(i) of Regulation No 1408/71, the term ‘family benefits’ means all benefits in kind or in cash intended to meet family expenses. In this regard, the family benefits are intended to provide social assistance for workers with dependent families in the form of a contribution by society towards their expenses. Such is the case of that child bonus, which is paid for each dependent child and which represents a public contribution to a family’s budget to alleviate the financial burdens involved in the maintenance of children. In that regard, the fact that the contribution takes the form of a cash benefit payable under the national tax law regime and that the child bonus has its origin in a tax reduction for children has no bearing on the classification of that benefit as a family benefit.

(see paras 31, 34-37, 39, operative part)

Case C‑177/12

Caisse nationale des prestations familiales

v

Salim Lachheb and Nadia Lachheb

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour de cassation (Luxembourg))

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Social security — Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 — Family benefit — Child bonus — National regulation providing for a benefit to be granted by way of an automatic tax rebate for children — Non-cumulation of family benefits’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 24 October 2013

Social security — Migrant workers — Family allowances — Meaning — Child bonus granted automatically to compensate for the maintenance of a child corresponding to a set amount without link to the income or the tax owed by the applicant — Included — Cash benefit payable under the national tax law regime, with its origin in a tax reduction for children — No effect

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 1(u), (i), and 4(1)(h))

Articles 1(u)(i) and 4(1)(h) of Regulation No 1408/71, in the version amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, as amended by Regulation No 647/2005, must be interpreted as meaning that a benefit such as the child bonus introduced by the law of a Member State provided for by way of automatic rebate in the tax reduction is a family benefit within the meaning of that regulation.

In the first place, such a benefit constitutes a social security benefit since it is, first, automatically granted in the case where there is a dependent child in order to compensate for the maintenance of that child, and, second, it corresponds to a set amount, granted automatically, without any link to the income or the tax owed by the applicant.

In the second place, according to Article 1(u)(i) of Regulation No 1408/71, the term ‘family benefits’ means all benefits in kind or in cash intended to meet family expenses. In this regard, the family benefits are intended to provide social assistance for workers with dependent families in the form of a contribution by society towards their expenses. Such is the case of that child bonus, which is paid for each dependent child and which represents a public contribution to a family’s budget to alleviate the financial burdens involved in the maintenance of children. In that regard, the fact that the contribution takes the form of a cash benefit payable under the national tax law regime and that the child bonus has its origin in a tax reduction for children has no bearing on the classification of that benefit as a family benefit.

(see paras 31, 34-37, 39, operative part)