Territoriality of VAT for short-term car rentals abroad in Italy

• The relevance of the service for rental cars abroad depends on the location where the vehicle is made available.
• The general criterion of territoriality applies only to long-term leases and rentals of transportation vehicles.
• There is a derogatory criterion for short-term leases and rentals, which applies to both VAT-registered entities and private consumers.
• For short-term services, the vehicle must be made available to the recipient and used within the territory of the European Union.
• Short-term rentals outside the EU but used in Italy are considered to be performed within the territory of Italy.
• The location where the contract is signed or the rental company is established does not affect the territoriality of the service.
• The duration of the rental is determined by the consecutive possession or uninterrupted use of the vehicle.
• An example is given where a company initially rents a vehicle for 10 days and then extends the rental for an additional 15 days.
• As long as the total duration does not exceed 30 days, the notion of “short-term” is preserved.

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.

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