Court of Justice (Eighth Chamber) 17 January 2013, C‑543/11 (Woningstichting Maasdriel v Staatssecretaris van Financiën.)

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The Court of Justice (Eighth Chamber) addressed whether Article 135(1)(k) of the VAT Directive, read with Article 12(1) and (3), precludes exemption from VAT of a supply of unbuilt land obtained by demolition of an existing building where that demolition was carried out for the purposes of future construction. The decisive legal issue was whether Member States may define 'building land' so as to exclude demolition works from the concept of 'work' carried out on land, thereby exempting from VAT a supply of land that was objectively intended to be built on. The Court held that the VAT exemption under Article 135(1)(k) does not cover such a supply where an overall assessment of the factual circumstances prevailing at the time of supply, including the parties' intention supported by objective evidence, demonstrates that the land was in fact intended to be built on, leaving the ultimate determination to the referring national court.AI