The plaintiff runs a chain of fast food restaurants. It opened a new branch in a shopping center. There, it sold pre-prepared meals in disposable packaging. The food was handed over to the customers at a sales counter. There was no separate seating or eating area. The store was located in an area of the shopping center, in the middle of which there was a seating and eating area that could be shared by tenants and customers of the center. Surrounding this seating and eating area were a total of 15 food service establishments, including the plaintiff’s store. The costs for this common area were borne by the tenants of the center.
The judges reasoned that the plaintiff had provided an overall service in which the service component predominated. It had the right to make the food area of the shopping center available to its customers. It was irrelevant that not only its customers could use this gastronomic center of the shopping mall.
(Düsseldorf Fiscal Court, communication dated 14.04.2021 regarding judgment dated 04.09.2019 – 5 K 404/14 U; BFH ref. no.: V R 42/20).
Source: steuerberater-berning.de
