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VAT News from Italy – goods introduced into a M.S. for working purposes and low cost goods dispatched to Italy

By September 21, 2015July 10th, 2021No Comments

The European law 2014 (law 115/2015, entered into force on August 18th, 2015) includes two VAT news: the first one relates to goods introduced into a M.S. for working purposes and then returned abroad…

The European law 2014 (law 115/2015, entered into force on August 18th, 2015) includes two VAT news: the first one relates to goods introduced into a M.S. for working purposes and then returned abroad; the second one refers to low cost goods dispatched to Italy, which ancillary services are now VAT exempted.

As regards the first issue, so far the dispatch/transport to Italy of goods for jobbing purposes was not regarded as a taxable transaction whenever goods were sent – after processing – in a M.S. other than the one from which goods were initially dispatched/transported, or (even) out of the EU.

Such a rule has been cancelled, since it was not consistent with art. 17(f) of the VAT directive.

As per new regulations – which are now aligned with C.J. judgment in the case C-606/12 – return abroad of goods previously introduced in Italy for jobbing purposes is not considered as a supply of goods only in case the goods, after working upon, are returned to the M.S. from which they were initially delivered. Thus, cases where foreign businesses will need an Italian VAT number will remarkably increase.

As to the second issue, European law 2014 considers as VAT exempt ancillary services (transport services, for instance) related to both small shipments of goods not made for commercial purposes and goods whose value is low (less than € 22), provided that their value is included into the overall value declared for Customs purposes.

Although such shipments have always been exempt,  up to now ancillary services have been deemed to be VAT taxable. It is likely that e-commerce services will gain benefit from new regulations (although € 22 threshold is quite low!).

 

dott. Alessandro Garzon