Relevant article in the EU VAT Directive
Article 135(1)(a) of Directive 2006/112/EC
Article 135
1. Member States shall exempt the following transactions:
(a) insurance and reinsurance transactions, including related services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents;
Decided
- C-349/96 (Card Protection Plan) – Composite supplies whether they constitute or include insurance
- C-240/99 (Skandia) – An insurance company assuming the business activities a subsidiary does not constitute an insurance transaction
- C-8/01 (Taksatorringen) – Damage estimates to motor vehicles made on behalf of its members by an association of insurance companies are not VAT exempted
- C-308/01 (GIL Insurance and Others) – Insurance Premium Tax is not a turnover tax
- C-472/03 (Arthur Andersen) – Back office services performed by an insurance broker/agent to an insurance undertaking are not VAT exempted
- C-13/06 (Commission vs. Greece) – Exemption for services consisting of assistance in the event of a car breakdown
- C-124/07 (J.C.M. Beheer BV) – Insurance-related services – Activities of insurance brokers and insurance agents are VAT exempted
- C-242/08 (Swiss Re Germany Holding) – An assignment for consideration of a portfolio of life reinsurance contracts is not exempted from VAT
- C-224/11 (BGŻ Leasing sp. z o.o) – Leasing services supplied together with insurance for the leased item
- C-584/13 (Mapfre asistencia and Mapfre warranty) – Second hand breakdown warranties considered as insurance and exempt from VAT
- C-40/15 (Aspiro) – Claims settlement services provided by a third party are not VAT Exempted
- C-235/19 (United Biscuits Pensions) vs. UK – Pension fund management services are not VAT exempted
- C-695/19 (Rádio Popular) – VAT Exempted Insurance activities should not be included in the denominator for proportional VAT deduction
- C-907/19 (Q-GmbH) – Intermediation activities for an insurance company are not VAT exempted
- C-42/22 (Global Companhia de Seguros) – The concept of ‘insurance and reinsurance transactions’ does not includes related or supplementary activities as purchase and sale of parts from written-off vehicles
Pending ECJ Cases
Remarks based on ECJ Cases
Paragraph 34 in C-907/19 & paragraph 32 in C-695/19
The exemption of those services is subject to two cumulative conditions: first, those services must be ‘related’ to insurance transactions and, secondly, they must be ‘performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents’
Points 33-35 in C-605/19
33. As regards the first of those conditions, it should be noted that the Court has previously held that the term ‘related’ is sufficiently broad to cover different services connected with the performance of insurance transactions and, in particular, the settlement of claims, which constitute one of the essential parts of those transactions (judgment of 17 March 2016, Aspiro, C‑40/15, EU:C:2016:172, paragraph 33).
34 Since it is apparent from the description of the facts provided by the referring tribunal that the supply at issue in the main proceedings consists, in essence, in the sale of warranty extensions relating to purchased items, which take the form of an insurance contract as described in paragraph 30 above, such a supply must be regarded as relating to an insurance transaction, within the meaning of Article 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive.
35 As to the second of those conditions, in order to determine whether the services in respect of which the exemption under Article 135(1)(a) of the VAT Directive is sought are supplied by an insurance broker or agent, it is not necessary to take as a basis the formal status of the supplier, but rather the actual content of those services (see, to that effect, judgment of 25 March 2021, Q-GmbH (Special risk insurance), C‑907/19, EU:C:2021:237, paragraph 36 and the case-law cited).
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