The recent Versãofast judgment (26 November 2025, General Court) clarifies the scope of the VAT exemption for credit intermediation. While the Court recalls that VAT exemptions must be interpreted strictly, it adopts a functional approach to “intermediation”, focusing on what the service enables rather than on formal or contractual characteristics.
In the case, Versãofast acted as a regulated mortgage intermediary in Portugal. Its core activities consisted in identifying potential borrowers, collecting and verifying documentation, transmitting loan applications to several banks and explaining the resulting offers to customers. It had no authority to negotiate loan terms or represent the bank, and it worked with multiple lenders in parallel. Remuneration was success-based, payable when loans were concluded. The Court held that these services, taken as a whole, enabled the conclusion of credit agreements and therefore qualified as VAT-exempt credit intermediation. The absence of exclusivity, representation or direct negotiation of contractual terms did not alter that conclusion, as the relevant criterion was the economic reality of facilitating the loan.
This clarification (confirming position taken in the previous cases DTZ and Ludwig) matters because it confirms that intermediation may cover a range of pre-contractual activities that do not involve negotiating financial conditions. Success-based remuneration is an indicator of such intermediation, even if it is not a formal condition for the VAT exemption.
Beyond credit: a wider footprint
Although the case concerns credit, the logic is not credit-specific. The same “substance over form” reasoning can be relevant for other VAT exempt financial operations where intermediation chains exist, such as investment product distribution/placement, securities brokerage, share deal intermediation and insurance distribution, provided the service bundle is functionally directed at enabling the exempt transaction (rather than being generic support).
FinTech: when a platform becomes an intermediary
The judgment is particularly relevant for FinTech operators whose platforms sit between customers and regulated financial institutions. Many combine digital onboarding, eligibility checks, document processing and the presentation of offers within a single interface. Versãofast suggests that, where these functions collectively enable the conclusion of credit agreements, they may qualify as VAT-exempt intermediation even without negotiating terms or operating under exclusivity. Conversely, platforms that merely provide advertising space, data processing or generic infrastructure without a causal link to concluding the credit transaction would remain taxable. Practically, VAT treatment depends less on the tech layer and more on the platform’s substantive role in origination, with implications for pricing, VAT leakage and input VAT recovery.
