There are still some practical issues which have not been clarified in the Explanatory Notes to the quick fixes or by the VAT Committee. The VAT Committee has been asked for its opinion in a new Working Paper.
Background
An Intra-Community Supplies of goods acan only be exempted in case the supplier issues an invoice with a valid VAT registration of the customer on the invoice (art. 138 of the EU VAT DIrective).
Decision VAT Committee
The VAT Committee unanimously agrees that this addition means that where the person acquiring the goods does not indicate his VAT identification number to the supplier or where the VAT identification number indicated has been issued by the Member State from which the goods are dispatched or transported, the conditions for applying the exemption of Article 138 must be seen as not being fulfilled and the supplier shall have no other option but to charge VAT.
Conclusion
- If no VAT number of the customer is mentioned on the invoice, the Intra-Community transactions can not be exempted from VAT following art. 138 of the EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EU
- Once a VAT number can be obtained and mentioned on an invoice, the origianl invoice can eb reversed and new invoice can be issued without VAT
- In a supplier can not issue a new invoice (e.g. due to bankruptcy), Member States must have a mechanism in place that ensures direct refund to the acquirer of the unduly paid VAT, where reimbursement from the supplier becomes “impossible or excessively difficult” (See C-35/05).
Source: europa.eu
