In Germany, the activities of members of supervisory boards are generally subject to VAT. In its judgement in the Dutch case IO of 13.06.2019 (C-420/18), the ECJ decided otherwise. In this case, the ECJ denied the independence of a member of the supervisory board of a foundation. The ECJ ruled that a supervisory board member does not act in his own name, on his own account or on his own responsibility and is subordinate to the supervisory board itself. The individual member does not bear any economic risk associated with his activity. The individual powers of the members of German supervisory boards of stock corporations and cooperatives are already limited by law to a similar extent as referred to in the ECJ proceedings. The decision is therefore likely to result in the alteration of the taxation of German supervisory boards in terms of non-taxability. If the activity of the supervisory board member is not taxable, there is no right for VAT deduction. For the past, the clear guidelines of the German VAT circular should protect legitimate expectations. This is particularly important with regard to the deduction of the input VAT arising from purchases.