Electricity supply as an independent service in addition to a VAT-exempt lease

According to the court, the supply of electricity is an independent service in addition to the rental. The decisive factor was that the amount consumed was billed individually to the tenants and the tenants were free to choose their electricity provider. The fact that they would have to bear the conversion costs in the event of termination of the electricity supply contract with the plaintiff, in order to then obtain the electricity from another supplier, made the change more difficult, but in no way impossible. In a comparable case, the ECJ had also considered the supply of electricity to be separate from the rental (ECJ, judgment of 16.04.2015 – C-42/14).

In view of the fact that the BFH has not yet explicitly ruled on this legal issue and that the tax authorities do not apply the ECJ ruling in case C-42/14, the tax court has allowed the appeal. A file number of the BFH is not yet available.

(Lower Saxony Tax Court, communication dated 17.03.2021 regarding the ruling 11 K 201/19 of 25.02.2021).

Source: steuerberater-berning.de

See also ECJ Case C-42/14 (Wojskowa Agencja Mieszkaniowa) – Letting of immovable property and the provision of water, electricity and heating must be regarded as constituting several distinct and independent supplies

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