Italian Supreme Court Questions Constitutionality of Import VAT Confiscation in Simple Smuggling Cases

• Italian Supreme Court referred a question to Constitutional Court about customs confiscation for simple smuggling involving non-payment of import VAT
• Concerns about disproportionate severity compared to treatment of internal VAT evasion
• Import VAT is part of general VAT system, not customs duty
• Sanctions for import VAT evasion should not be same as customs duty evasion
• Concerns about compliance with principles of reasonableness and proportionality under Italian Constitution and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in sanction framework for simple smuggling cases

Source: eutekne.info

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

---

---