Request for a preliminary ruling from the Commissione tributaria provinciale di Parma (Italy) lodged on 30 October 2020 – Casa di Cura Città di Parma SpA v Agenzia delle Entrate
(Case C-573/20)
Language of the case: Italian
Referring court
Commissione tributaria provinciale di Parma
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Casa di Cura Città di Parma SpA
Defendant: Agenzia delle Entrate
Questions referred
[Is there] a conflict between national legislation and [EU] law and, in particular, between Article 19(5) and Article 19bis of Presidential Decree 633/72 (the Italian national legislation which governs the mechanism for calculating the non-deductible proportion of VAT), on the one hand, and Article 17(2)(a) of Directive [77/388/EC] of 17 May 1977, 1 on the other?
[Is] the difference in treatment between Italian healthcare professionals, deemed to be ‘final consumers’ (liable to VAT) and healthcare professionals of other Member States of the European Union (such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, France and Spain), deemed to be ‘intermediary operators’ (with the right to deduct VAT), [compatible with EU law]?
[Is there] unequal treatment as regards the rules on VAT between the various Member States of the European Union, given that unlike the situation in Italy where healthcare services are exempt from VAT, in other Member States of the European Union (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, France and Spain) the same healthcare services are subject to VAT, with the result that different rates of VAT and, therefore, a different right to deduct are applied to the same healthcare services?
[Is] the inequality between Italian healthcare professionals (including Casa di Cura Città di Parma) and the professionals of other Member States of the European Union (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, France and Spain) – in that the healthcare services provided by the latter are subject to value added tax and, as a result, unlike Italian healthcare professionals, they have the corresponding right to deduct and/or to reimbursement of VAT paid on purchases – [compatible with EU law]?’
____________
1 Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p. 1).