European Court of Justice, VAT and device for charging electric vehicles

The Tenth Chamber of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) with its judgement of 20 April 2023 in case C-282 declared that the supply of the devices for recharging electric vehicles and its connected services, from a VAT standpoint, constitute a supply of goods.

In particular, the “….Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax, as amended by Council Directive 2009/162/EU of 22 December 2009, must be interpreted as meaning that a single complex supply which encompasses: –  access to recharging devices for electric vehicles (including integration of the charger with the vehicle operating system); – the supply of electricity, within duly adjusted parameters, to the batteries of that vehicle; – the necessary technical support for the users concerned; and –  the provision of IT applications enabling the user concerned to reserve a connector, view his or her transaction history, and purchase credits which are then accumulated in an e-wallet and used to pay for recharging sessions constitutes a ‘supply of goods’ within the meaning of Article 14(1) of Directive 2006/112, as amended….”.