Drill guides are instruments, not prostheses — sales to dentists VAT-free

A Ab manufactures and sells drill guides that dentists use to seat implants in a patient's jawbone, selling either the guide alone or the guide together with an implant. A dental technician employed by A Ab plans each guide in a CAD program from the composite patient data the dentist supplies, while the milling itself is bought from B Ab. The company employs three dental technicians, one of them a specialist, all registered in the central register of licensed healthcare professionals (JulkiTerhikki), and the supervisory authority (Tillstånds- och tillsynsverket) had licensed the staff to practise as licensed professionals.

The sale of the guide counts as independent and separate from the sale of the implantVero, and the guide is a dental-technical instrument rather than a dental prosthesis of the kind 36 § 3 punkten i MomsL exemptsVero — so the sale is not VAT-free on that basisVero. A prosthesis in this context consists of the artificial root, that is the implant, plus the crown or bridge fixed to it, including any cylinder and fixation screw, with parts sold separately still counting as prosthesis sales alongside false teeth; other dental-technical devices such as braces and bite splints are not prostheses.

The exemption instead runs through 36 § 5 punkten i MomsLVero, whose every condition was metVero. The transferor condition held following HFD 2013:40Vero: the principal owner's registration as an independent practitioner meant it did not matter whether the company held a private-healthcare provider licenceVero, and the employees were equated with the principal owner. The staff in fact held professional licences and were registered in JulkiTerhikki. The manufacture and sale of each guide served the individual needs of a dentist's patient within that activityVero, and the guides were used directly in the VAT-free healthcare the purchasing dentist providesVero. With all conditions fulfilled, the company pays no VAT on sales of drill guides to dentistsVero.

The advance ruling is binding for the period 21 August 2026 to 31 December 2027, applies 1 § 1 mom. 1 punkten, 34 § 1 mom., 35 §, 36 § 3 punkten, 36 § 5 punkten and 190 a § i mervärdesskattelagen, and has gained legal force. The fact pattern is narrow: patient-specific guides planned from the dentist's data, sold separately from the implant, by licensed and registered technicians — and the ruling binds only its 21 August 2026 to 31 December 2027 windowVero.

The VAT treatment follows 36 § 3 and 5 punkten i mervärdesskattelagen (MomsL).