On 27 September 2019, the government presented the Finance Bill for 2020 (the Bill) (projet de loi de finances pour 2020). The key measures of the Bill regarding VAT and other measures are…
On 27 September 2019, the government presented the Finance Bill for 2020 (the Bill) (projet de loi de finances pour 2020). The key measures of the Bill regarding VAT and other measures are:
E-commerce
The Bill implements the Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 amending the EU VAT Directive 2006/112 and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations for supplies of services and distance sales of goods.
In particular, the Bill provides for:
- a definition of intra-Community distance selling of goods and distance selling of goods imported from third countries or territories;
- the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme to report in a single Member State all distance sales of imported goods taken on consignment whose value is equal to or lower than EUR 150 and for which the place of taxation is in the Member State of consumption. Following the use of this reporting and payment system, an exemption from VAT due on importation is introduced; and
- a special regime for the declaration and payment of import VAT for taxable persons presenting goods to customs in respect of consigned goods with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150, available when the IOSS scheme is not used (article 53 of the Bill).
Exemption for management of UCITS
The scope of the exemption from VAT for management services of undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) mentioned in article 135(1)(g) of the EU VAT Directive will be revised.
The Bill provides for the inclusion in the scope of the exemption of all types of funds, regardless the form in which they are constituted, provided that they cumulatively meet four conditions laid down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its case-law. In particular, for benefitting from the exemption, funds must (i) carry on collective investment activity, (ii) operate according to the principle of risk spreading, (iii) are subject to State control and have a return on investments subject to the investment performances, and (iv) the investors must bear the risk associated with the fund. The list of these bodies will be specified by decree (article 9 of the Bill).
Intra-community transport
The Council Directive (EU) 2018/1910 of 4 December 2018 will be transposed into the domestic law as from 1 January 2020. The main implications are the following:
the regime applicable to consecutive supplies of goods (chain operations) object of a single intra-Community transport is clarified; and
the communication to the supplier of the VAT identification number of the purchaser of goods, issued by a Member State other than that of the departure of the transport of the goods, will be introduced as an additional substantive condition for the application of the exemption on intra-Community supplies (article 10 of the Bill).
Electronic invoicing
The French finance bill project reflects the French government’s intention to make electronic invoices in business-to-business (B2B) relationships mandatory, effective January 2023. Under this proposal, paper (hardcopy) invoices would no longer be acceptable as of 2023.
The French government plans to implement a system whereby:
- VAT returns would be pre-filled with the data gathered from the invoices exchanged between companies.
- The tax authorities then would be in a position to compare automatically the purchases data with the sales data.
The above information was kindly provided by Ayming France. If you need any further information you can directly contact Mojca Grobovsek at: [email protected].
