European Court of Justice Issues Preliminary Ruling on Spanish VAT Exemption for Cost-Sharing Group Services

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Jan. 22 issued a preliminary ruling for Joined Case Nos. C-379/24 and C-380/24, on the Spanish VAT exemption for services rendered by specific cost-sharing groups to members at cost. The taxpayers were Spanish groups that provided cleaning services for its members’ healthcare and educational buildings. The tax authorities denied the taxpayers’ request for a VAT exemption, finding the services to be outsourced and not linked to tax-exempt activities. Upon request for a preliminary ruling, the ECJ held that Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT must be interpreted as precluding: 1) national ...