Recent Italian ruling related to exemptions for intra-Community transactions

In December 2018 the European Council formally approved VAT proposals – referred to as “quick fixes” - related to the following: (i) Regulation EU 2018/1909, (ii) Directive EU 2018/1910 e, and (iii) Executive Regulation EU 2018/1912.

The VAT quick fixes, which are valid from 1 January 2020, concern:

Simplified treatment for call-off stock;
Uniform rules to simplify chain transactions;
Mandatory VAT identification number;
Proof of Intra-EU supply of goods.

In this article we highlight the Italian Tax Authorities’ recent ruling n.117, which was published 23 April 2020.

Ruling n.117/2020 - The case at issue

The ruling concerns the case of an Italian taxpayer that normally carried out the Intra-EU supply of goods applying the Ex Works (warehouse) Incoterms clause. Given the list of documents required under art. 45 a) of EU Regulation 282/2011 (amended by Implementing Regulation 2018/1912/EU), and considering the real difficulties taxpayers have in collecting these documents, the taxpayer asked the Italian Tax Authorities if, instead of providing the required documents, the Tax Authorities would consider the following documents valid for this purpose:

The VAT exempt sale invoice according to art. 41 DL 331/93 (Italian VAT Law reference);
The Convention de Marchandises de route (CMR) signed by the transporter and the final client, or, absent the client's signature, the declaration of receipt of the goods;
The client's declaration of receipt of the goods;
Bank documents attesting to the payment for the goods sold;
The recapitulative statements reporting the Intra-EU supply of goods.

Italian Tax Authorities’ clarification

The Italian Tax Authorities deemed the solution proposed by the taxpayer shareable and sufficient to comply with the EU requirements introduced by Implementing Regulation 2018/1912/EU as well as the previous Italian Tax Authorities’ ruling n.100/2019.

Francesco Grandolfo
francesco.grandolfo@bdo.it