Order of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 30 September 2015 —
Balogh
(Case C‑424/14) (1)
Reference for a preliminary ruling –VAT — Directive 2006/112/EC — Articles 213 and 214 — Commencement of an activity not stated — Exemption scheme for small businesses — Penalty
1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Answer admitting of no reasonable doubt — Application of Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure (Rules of Procedure of the Court, Art. 99) (see para. 24)
2. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Obligations of persons liable for the tax — Obligation to declare the commencement of activity as a taxable person — National legislation imposing such an obligation on taxable persons where the proceeds of that activity do not exceed the threshold of the exemption scheme for small businesses — Lawfulness (Council Directive 2006/112, Art. 213, first para.) (see para. 30, operative part 1)
3. Member States — Retained powers — Field of penalties relating to value added tax — Obligation to exercise that power in accordance with EU law and its general principles (see paras 32, 33, 36)
4. Harmonisation of fiscal legislation — Common system of value added tax — Obligations of persons liable for the tax — Obligation to declare the commencement of activity as a taxable person — National legislation imposing an administrative fine on taxable person which fail to comply with that obligation, where the proceeds of that activity do not exceed the threshold of the exemption scheme for small businesses — Lawfulness — Condition — Observance of the principle of proportionality — Verification a matter for the national court (Council Directive 2006/112) (see paras 34-37, operative part 2)
5. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — General or hypothetical questions — Question appearing to be abstract or purely hypothetical in relation to the subject-matter of the main proceedings — Inadmissibility (Art. 267 TFEU) (see paras 39, 40, 42)
Operative part
1. | | Article 213(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation requiring a taxable person to state when an economic activity commences where the proceeds of that activity do not exceed the threshold of the exemption scheme for small enterprises and the taxable person does not intend to carry out a taxable activity. |
2. | | EU law must be interpreted as not precluding an administrative fine from penalising the failure by a taxable person to comply with his obligation to state when an economic activity commences where the proceeds of that activity do not exceed the threshold of the exemption scheme for small businesses. It is for the referring court to assess whether, in the case in the main proceedings, the penalty imposed is in conformity with the principle of proportionality. |