Request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunalul Prahova (Romania) lodged on 16 August 2023 – Weatherford Atlas Gip SA v Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală de Soluționare a Contestațiilor, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili

(Case C-527/23, Weatherford Atlas Gip)

Language of the case: Romanian

Referring court

Tribunalul Prahova

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Weatherford Atlas Gip SA

Defendants: Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală de Soluționare a Contestațiilor, Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală – Direcția Generală de Administrare a Marilor Contribuabili

Questions referred

Must Article 168 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, ¹ read in the light of the principle of fiscal neutrality, be interpreted as precluding, in circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, the tax authority from refusing a taxable person the right to deduct the value added tax paid in respect of administrative services acquired, where it is established that all the costs recorded for the services purchased have been included in the taxable person’s general costs and that the taxable person carries out only taxable transactions, that the supply of services is expressly confirmed by the tax authority and that the tax treatment applied is that of the reverse charge procedure (which precludes a loss to the Treasury)?

For the purposes of interpreting the provisions of Articles 2 and 168 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, in circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, may the services of management and administration (namely assistance and consultancy in various fields, financial and legal advice) provided between intra-group companies for the benefit of different members of the group be regarded by each member in part as being used for the purposes of taxable transactions, that is to say, acquired for its own purposes?

For the purposes of interpreting Article 2 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, where it is established that intra-group services are not supplied to a member of the group, may a company which is part of the group but is deemed not to have benefited from such services be regarded as a taxable person acting as such?

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¹ OJ 2006 L 347, p. 1, Special edition in Romanian: Chapter 09 Volume 003 P. 7.