Notice for the OJ
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
(Grand Chamber)
of 26 April 2005
in Case C-376/02 Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der NederlandenStichting 'Goed Wonen' v Staatssecretaris van Financiën 1 (Turnover tax - Common system of value added tax - Article 17 of Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC - Deduction of input tax - Amendment of national legislation - Retroactive effect - Principles of the protection of legitimate expectations and legal certainty )
(Language of the case: Dutch)
In Case C-376/02: reference for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands), made by decision of 18 October 2002, received at the Court on 21 October 2002, in the proceedings pending before that court between Stichting 'Goed Wonen' and Staatssecretaris van Financiën - the Court (Grand Chamber), composed of V. Skouris, President, P. Jann, C.W.A. Timmermans, A. Rosas (Rapporteur), R. Silva de Lapuerta and A. Borg Barthet, Presidents of Chambers, N. Colneric, S. von Bahr, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, P. Kūris, E. Juhász, G. Arestis and M. Ilešič, Judges; A. Tizzano, Advocate General, M.-F. Contet, Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, gave a judgment on 26 April 2005, the operative part of which is as follows:
The principles of the protection of legitimate expectations and legal certainty do not preclude a Member State, on an exceptional basis and in order to avoid the large-scale use, during the legislative process, of contrived financial arrangements intended to minimise the burden of value added tax that an amending law is specifically designed to combat, from giving that law retroactive effect when, in circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, economic operators carrying out economic transactions such as those referred to by the law were warned of the impending adoption of that law and of the retroactive effect envisaged in a way that enabled them to understand the consequences of the legislative amendment planned for the transactions they carry out.
When that law exempts an economic transaction in respect of immovable property previously subject to value added tax, it may have the effect of revoking a value added tax adjustment made on account of the exercise, when immovable property was used for a transaction regarded at that time as taxable, of a right to deduct value added tax paid in respect of the supply of that immovable property.
____________1 - OJ C 7 of 11.01.2003.