Crossed Wires in Luxembourg: Hutchison 3G and the Competition Test in VAT

Article first published in The Tax Journal, 23rd July 2007.

In Case C-369/04 Hutchison 3G UK Ltd & Others v CEC and Case C-284/04 T-Mobile & Others v Austria, judgments of 26 June 2007, the ECJ held that Member States’ auctions of 3G licenses do not constitute an economic activity and so fall outside the scope of the Sixth Directive.  In finding that claims by successful.