Case C-451/06

Gabriele Walderdorff

v

Finanzamt Waldviertel

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the

Unabhängiger Finanzsenat, Außenstelle Wien)

(Sixth VAT Directive – Article 13B(b) – Exemption – Leasing and letting of immovable property – Letting of fishing rights)

Summary of the Judgment

Tax provisions – Harmonisation of laws – Turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax – Exemptions provided for in the Sixth Directive – Exemption of the leasing and letting of immovable property

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 13B(b))

Article 13B(b) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes must be interpreted to mean that the grant for consideration, under a contract of let for a period of 10 years, of the right to fish, by the landowner in waters owned by that person, and by the holder of fishing rights in publicly owned waters, does not constitute either a leasing or a letting of immovable property, inasmuch as that grant does not confer the right to occupy the immovable property concerned and to exclude any other person from it.

(see para. 23, operative part)