Ministre de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie v Gillan Beach Ltd.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Writing for the Court: Borg Barthet
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2006:169
• Docket Number: C-114/05
• Date: 09 March 2006
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling

Case C-114/05

Ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie

v

Gillan Beach Ltd

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Conseil d’État (France))

(VAT – Place of taxable transactions – Fiscal connection – Services provided in connection with boat shows)

Summary of the Judgment

Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Supply of services

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 9(2)(c), first indent)

The first indent of Article 9(2)(c) of Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes lays down that the place of the supply of services relating to cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational and entertainment or similar activities, including those of the organisers of such activities, and ancillary services, is the place where those services are physically carried out. That provision must be interpreted as meaning that an inclusive service provided by an organiser to exhibitors at a fair or in an exhibition hall falls within the category of services referred to therein.

The features common to the various categories of services referred to in the first indent of Article 9(2)(c) of the Sixth Directive originate in the complex nature of the services concerned, which are various services, and in the fact that those services are generally provided for a number of different recipients, that is to say, all the people taking part, in a variety of capacities, in cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational or entertainment activities. Those various categories of services also have the common feature that they are usually provided for specific events, and the place where those complex services are physically carried out is easy to identify, as a rule, since such events take place at specific locations. A show or a fair, whatever its theme, seeks to provide to a number of different recipients, as a rule in a single place and on a single occasion, a variety of complex services, with the purpose, in particular, of presenting information, goods or events in such a way as to promote them to the visitors.

In those circumstances, it must be possible to regard a show or a fair as being covered by the similar activities referred to in the first indent of Article 9(2)(c) of the Sixth Directive.

(see paras 23-25, 29, operative part)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

9 March 2006 (*)

(VAT – Place of taxable transactions – Fiscal connection – Services provided in connection with boat shows)

In Case C-114/05,

REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Conseil d’État (France), made by decision of 10 January 2005, received at the Court on 8 March 2005, in the proceedings

Ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie

v

Gillan Beach Ltd,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of J. Malenovský, President of the Chamber, A. Borg Barthet (Rapporteur) and U. Lõhmus, Judges,

Advocate General: D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer,

Registrar: R. Grass,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– the French Government, by G. de Bergues and C. Jurgensen, acting as Agents,

– the Greek Government, by V. Kyriazopoulos, O. Patsopoulou and M. Tassopoulou, acting as Agents,

– the United Kingdom Government, by C. White and R. Hill, acting as Agents,

– the Commission of the European Communities, by R. Lyal and M. Afonso, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 The reference for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 9(2) of Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1, hereinafter ‘the Sixth Directive’).

2 This reference has been made in proceedings between the Ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie (Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry) and Gillan Beach Ltd, a company established in the United Kingdom, concerning a refund of the value added tax (‘VAT’) which that company paid on purchases of goods and services in France in connection with the organisation of two boat shows in Nice in 1993.

Legal context

Community law

3 Article 1 of Eighth Council Directive 79/1072/EEC of 6 December 1979 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes – Arrangements for the refund of value added tax to taxable persons not established in the territory of the country (OJ 1979 L 331, p. 11, hereinafter ‘the Eighth Directive’) provides:

‘For the purposes of this Directive, “a taxable person not established in the territory of the country” shall mean a person as referred to in Article 4(1) of Directive 77/388/EEC who, during the period referred to in the first...