Insurance company's duty to pay VAT for received data services

Justices: Matningsdal, Normann, Noer, Thyness, Sverdrup

A life insurance company selling saving products and insurance services had purchased data services from a Danish company. The Supreme Court found like the lower instances that the company had a duty to levy VAT on these services, see section 3-30 of the VAT Act, as the exception for financial services, see section 3-6 of the VAT Act, was not applicable. It was assumed that companies falling under the definition "securities fund" in section 3-6 f, would also be covered by the wider term "investment company" in section 3-6 g. The company could however not be counted as an "investment company". The cause of the exception for financial services implied that the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding special investment funds were relevant for the interpretation of the Norwegian provision. Although the company satisfied many of the criteria defining an investment company, the Supreme Court found that the special features of the company's ownership structure and investment activity implied that it could not be equal to the companies that the CJEU thus far had considered to be special investment funds. The exception in section 3-6 of the VAT Act was thus not applicable. The appeal against the Court of Appeal's judgment was dismissed.