Opinion of Advocate General Tanchev in the case Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma.
Tanchev proposes the following answer to the question referred by the Bundesfinanzhof: On the basis of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (judgment of 24 October 1996 in Elida Gibbs, C‑317/94, EU:C:1996:400, paragraphs 28 and 31) and having regard to the principle of equal treatment under EU law, a pharmaceutical company which supplies medicinal products is entitled to a reduction of the taxable amount under Article 90 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC in the case where:
– it supplies those medicinal products to pharmacies via wholesalers,
– the pharmacies supply those products, subject to tax, to persons with private health insurance,
– the insurer of the medical expense insurance (the private health insurance company) reimburses the persons insured by it for the costs of purchasing the medicinal products, and
– the pharmaceutical company is required to pay a ‘discount' to the private health insurance company pursuant to a statutory provision.
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