27.8.2011

Official Journal of the European Union

C 252/14

(Case C-259/11)

2011/C 252/27

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: DTZ Zadelhoff vof

Questions referred

1.Must Article 13B(d)(5) of the Sixth Directive be interpreted as also covering transactions, such as those carried out by the interested party, which in essence relate to the immovable property held by the companies concerned and its (indirect) transfer, solely on the ground that those transactions were aimed at, and resulted in, the transfer of the shares in the companies?

2.Is the exception to the exemption contained in the second indent of Article 13B(d)(5) of the Sixth Directive also applicable if the Member State has not availed itself of the possibility provided by Article 5(3)(c) of the Sixth Directive of considering shares or interests equivalent to shares giving the holder thereof rights of ownership or possession over immovable property to be tangible property?

3.If the previous question must be answered in the affirmative, must the aforementioned shares or interests equivalent to shares be understood to include shares in companies which, directly or indirectly (by means of (sub-) subsidiaries), own immovable property, regardless of whether they exploit it as such or whether they utilise it in the context of a different type of undertaking?

Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1997 L 145, p. 1).