Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 5 March 2020 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof — Germany) — X-GmbH v Finanzamt Z
(Case C-48/19) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Taxation — Common system of value added tax — Directive 2006/112/EC — Article 132(1)(c) — Exemptions — Provision of medical care in the exercise of the medical and paramedical professions — Telephone services — Services provided by nurses and medical assistants)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Bundesfinanzhof
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: X-GmbH
Defendant: Finanzamt Z
Operative part of the judgment
1. Article 132(1)(c) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as meaning that services provided by telephone, consisting of advice relating to health and illness, can fall within the exemption provided for in that provision, provided that they pursue a therapeutic aim, which it is for the referring court to determine.
2. Article 132(1)(c) of Directive 2006/112 must be interpreted as not requiring that, due to the fact that medical services are provided by telephone, nurses and medical assistants who provide those services are subject to additional professional qualification requirements in order for those services to benefit from the exemption provided for in that provision, provided that they can be regarded as being of a level of quality equivalent to that of services provided by other service providers using the same means of communication, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.
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1 OJ C 148, 29.4.2019.