On Thursday 26 October (Case C-90/16), the judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that duplicate bridge is not covered by the notion of "sport" within the meaning of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value-added tax (hereafter 'VAT directive') and that this activity may therefore not be exempted from this tax.
The English Bridge Union (EBU) is a body that governs the practice of duplicate bridge, a variety of bridge, in England. It organises paid competitions and pays VAT on the entry fees. An application for the reimbursement of this VAT made by it, arguing that it should enjoy an exemption under the provisions of the VAT directive pertaining to sport, was rejected by the British tax authorities, which argued that a sport should involve a significant physical component, which is not the case with duplicate bridge.
The EBU appealed against this decision and a British court acknowledged that the activity called for considerable intellectual skills. However, it asked the CJEU for a preliminary ruling to clarify whether duplicate bridge is a sport within the meaning of the VAT directive.
The Luxembourg judges firstly stated that in this specific case, it was not their responsibility to rule on the significance of the notion of "sport" in general, but only on its interpretation in the framework of the VAT directive. As there is no definition in the text, the court considered that the term "sport" should be defined in line with the usual meaning in everyday language and taking account of the context and objectives of the directive.
The CJEU then considered that the VAT exemptions provided for by the directive should apply to activities characterised by a significant physical element. Although duplicate bridge may be considered an activity that is beneficial to mental and physical health, the Court concluded that it does not constitute a "sport" within the meaning of the directive.
However, the CJEU does not rule out the possibility of this activity coming under the notion of "cultural services" within the meaning of the same directive. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)