ECJ C-846/19 – Administration de l’Enregistrement, des Domaines and de la TVA vs LU – Questions – Mandates in connection with custody and guardianship cases – Economic activity?

Legal services – Mandates in connection with custody and guardianship cases – Economic activity?

• The applicant is a lawyer in Luxembourg and has held mandates since 2004 under the schemes for the protection of incapacitated adults.
• The mandates are instituted by a judge for custody and guardianship cases, who shall pay compensation to the mandatary and determine the amount, taking into account the condition of the incapacitated person.
• Until 2013, the tax authorities, considered that this activity was not subject to VAT.
• The tax authorities subsequently subjected those activities to VAT.
• The applicant argues that the services in question are not economic activities subject to VAT.
• According to the applicant the ‘remuneration’ paid for the mandate is of a nature other than the ‘fee’ of a lawyer.
• The question is, among other things, whether the term “economic activity” includes or does not include services provided in the context of a triangular relationship, in which the service provider these services are taxed by an entity that is not the same as the recipient of the services.

Unofficial translation.  More information/source documents expected later.  This case reminds us of case C‑246/08 – Republic of Finland regarding public legal aid offices, where the court found that the payment could not be seen as  consideration for legal aid services provided by public offices and that those services should not be regarded as economic activities.

 

 

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