ECJ C-472/24 (Žaidimų valiuta) – AG Opinion – VAT Treatment of In-Game Gold Transactions

On September 11, 2025m the ECJ released the AG Opinion in the case C-472/24 (Žaidimų valiuta).

Context: Reference for a preliminary ruling – Common system of value added tax (VAT) – Directive 2006/112/EC – Exemption – Article 135(1)(e) – Sale of in-game Gold for real money outside the game – Transactions concerning legal tender – Calculation of the taxable amount – Article 30b(2) – In-game Gold as a voucher – Margin scheme – Article 315 – In-game Gold as second-hand goods

Summary

Background of the Case: The case involves ‘Žaidimų valiuta’ MB, which engages in the buying and selling of in-game Gold from an online game. The Lithuanian tax authority assessed VAT on these transactions, prompting the applicant to argue that they should be exempt as currency transactions or treated as multi-purpose vouchers.
Questions to the Court: The Tax Disputes Commission of Lithuania referred two questions to the Court:
- Does the sale of in-game Gold qualify for VAT exemption under Article 135(1)(e) of the VAT Directive?
- If not exempt, what is the taxable value of in-game Gold: the total sale amount or just the profit margin?
Decision of the Advocate General: Advocate General Kokott concluded that the sale of in-game Gold does not fall within the exemption for currency transactions as it does not constitute legal tender. Moreover, in-game Gold does not meet the criteria to be classified as a voucher under the VAT Directive.
Justification for the Decision: The Advocate General reasoned that in-game Gold is not used as a means of payment outside the game, but rather as a consumable benefit within it. Thus, it does not satisfy the requirements for VAT exemptions or the definition of a voucher, which must create an obligation for the supplier to accept it as payment for goods or services.
Implications for VAT Treatment: The opinion suggests that in-game Gold should not benefit from the margin scheme for second-hand goods since it is treated as a service rather than a tangible good. If in-game Gold is not purchased from a taxable person, the applicant faces a competitive disadvantage, raising concerns about VAT neutrality in digital transactions.

Articles in the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC

Article 135(1)(e) of the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC

Article 135
1. Member States shall exempt the following transactions:

(e) transactions, including negotiation, concerning currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender, with the exception of collectors’ items, that is to say, gold, silver or other metal coins or bank notes which are not normally used as legal tender or coins of numismatic interest;

Background

Facts:
The applicant, the company ‘Žaidimų valiuta’, has been ordered by the tax authorities to pay VAT and a fine. After an inspection, the tax authorities determined that the applicant obtains income by purchasing and reselling ‘gold’ in the computer game Runescape, and does not pay VAT on this correctly. The applicant disagrees with the tax authorities’ decision and has filed a complaint with the tax disputes committee.

Consideration:
The applicant has treated the income from the sale of in-game gold as income from trading in virtual currencies, and has therefore classified it as income from an exempt activity under national VAT law. The tax authorities state that this concerns the provision of services and that the sale of in-game gold should be regarded as an economic activity aimed at generating income, on which VAT is payable. The referring court seeks clarity on whether the sale of the gold from the game Runescape is a VAT-exempt transaction within the meaning of Article 135(1)(e) of the VAT Directive.

Questions

Is the sale of ‘gold’ from the game ‘Runescape’ an exempt transaction within the meaning of Article 135(1)(e) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (hereinafter: ‘the VAT Directive’)?
If the answer to the first question is in the negative: is the VAT Directive to be interpreted as meaning that the taxable value of in-game gold consists of the total consideration for its sale, or does it consist only of the difference between the purchase price and the sale price of the in-game gold, in so far as the trader does not charge a separate commission for its transfer?

AG Opinion

(1) Article 135(1)(e) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as meaning that it exempts only transactions concerning legal tender or non-legal tender that is accepted as a contractual direct means of payment between operators and that thus has no other purpose than to be a means of payment in legal transactions.
(2) In-game Gold (as an electronic service) does not merely serve to procure a later consumable benefit in the form of an as yet unspecified service, which the issuer of a voucher would be obliged to supply, but is itself already a consumable benefit. Therefore, it is not a voucher within the meaning of Article 30a of the VAT Directive.
(3) Article 311(1)(1) of the VAT Directive must be interpreted, in the light of technological developments, in a teleologically broader manner as covering also transferable non-tangible objects, provided that they are traded in legal transactions in the same way as tangible objects. The decisive factor is that such services are traded on a secondary market in a comparable way to regular second-hand goods and typically contain residual VAT. It is for the referring commission to determine whether that is the case for in-game Gold here.

Cited (recent) case law