General Court 15 April 2026, T-397/25 (Opinion of Advocate General Brkan delivered on 15 April 2026.)

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In this Opinion delivered on 15 April 2026 in Case T‑397/25 (A&P Deco NV v Belgian State), Advocate General Brkan addresses whether Articles 19 and 29 of the VAT Directive (Directive 2006/112/EC) exempt a transferor from the obligation under Articles 184 et seq. to adjust input VAT deductions on business premises when, concomitant with a transfer of a totality of assets or part thereof, those premises are let on a tax-exempt basis to the transferee who continues the taxable activity. The Advocate General opines that the conclusion of a lease does not form part of the transfer of a totality of assets within the meaning of Articles 19 and 29, since letting constitutes a supply of services establishing a new continuous obligation rather than a one-off transfer of an existing asset, and that neither the fiction of non-supply nor the succession mechanism under Article 19(1) displaces the transferor's obligation to adjust deductions once the premises are used for tax-exempt transactions. Accordingly, the Advocate General proposes that the Court answer that a taxable person remains obliged to adjust input VAT in respect of the acquisition, construction, conversion, or renovation of business premises let on a tax-exempt basis to the transferee, notwithstanding that the letting is concomitant with a qualifying transfer of a totality of assets or part thereof.AI