The Advocate General’s opinion in Deutsche Bank Case may create some nervousness for those Member States in which portfolio management services were hitherto exempt for VAT purposes.
Deutsche Bank Case C-44/11 concerns a reference to the second chamber of the CJEU by the German Supreme Court of Finance (Bundesfinanzhof) requiring clarification of the legality of the VAT treatment of individual portfolio management services (PSOs) offered by the claimant Deutsche Bank AG.
Those services consist in the bank being appointed by private individuals to manage their investment portfolio in accordance with previously established investment strategies but without any further input of the client.
The main question at issue was whether PSOs fall under the exemption from VAT provided by Article 135(1)(f) or (g) of Directive 2006/112/EC (the Directive). A...
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