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Finanzamt Leverkusen v Verigen Transplantation Service International AG (Case C-156/09), European Court of Justice
A German biotechnology company extracted cells from a patient’s joint cartilages, multiplied them in a laboratory, and prepared them for reintegration into the patient’s body.
The German tax authority issued an assessment charging VAT on these supplies, and the company appealed, contending that the supplies were exempt under Article 13A1(c) of the Sixth Directive.
The case was referred to the European Court of Justice. It held that Article 13A1(c) meant that the removal of joint cartilage cells from a human being and the subsequent multiplication of those cells for reimplantation for therapeutic purposes was the ‘provision of medical care’.
The company’s supplies were therefore exempt from VAT.
