Exemption from Guarantee for VAT Credit Offsets in Group VAT Settlement: Italian Tax Authority Clarifies

• The Italian tax authorities clarified that the two-year business activity requirement for exemption from providing a guarantee in group VAT settlements must be verified at the time of the annual VAT return submission, not at the time of intragroup offsets.
• It is possible to submit a supplementary VAT return with a compliance certificate (“visto di conformità”) to obtain exemption from the guarantee, as long as no tax inspections are ongoing and within assessment deadlines.
• If the supplementary return is filed within 90 days of the deadline, only formal penalties apply; after 90 days, higher penalties and interest may be imposed if the guarantee or exemption is missing.
• Certification of compliance with Article 38-bis conditions must be indicated in the VAT declaration, including via a supplementary return if necessary.
• The case involved a Dutch company with a complex VAT history in Italy, seeking to avoid providing a guarantee for VAT credit surpluses transferred within a group VAT settlement by submitting the required documentation.

Source: blog.pwc-tls.it

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.

---

---