On 12 May 2022 , the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a judgment (case C-714/20, U.I. Srl) concerning the joint and several liability of the indirect customs representative for the payment of import VAT.
The case concerns an import VAT debt which the Italian authorities demanded from the indirect customs representative of an importing company which was bankrupt. Since it was not possible for the administration to collect the VAT directly from said company, it decided to claim it from the customs representative in his capacity, according to their view, as jointly and severally liable for the VAT.
The customs representative acknowledged that he had acted in his own name and on behalf of the importing company on the basis of the mandate formalized among them and therefore acknowledged that he had filed the relevant customs declarations according to said mandate. However, it argued that there was no provision in the Italian legislation claiming for joint and several liability of the indirect customs representative for the payment of VAT on importation.
Source Madrid VAT Forum
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