VAT

Value added tax and value added tax on importation in the international movement of goods

Compliance with the special VAT law provisions that apply international transactions is absolutely necessary in trade with third countries and other EU Member States. If mistakes are made in the processing of VAT, this may result in the deduction of input tax being denied or in VAT being subsequently charged on export deliveries processed without tax or on intra-Community deliveries. On the other hand, customs and VAT law gives market players numerous opportunities to structure value added and distribution chains effectively which are not yet being sufficiently used by many companies. Our team works on the interfaces of customs and VAT law and helps our clients minimise risks and leverage potential synergies.

Key areas of our work include:


Proper processing of intra-Community deliveries, in particular registration and notification obligations, preparation of documentation, protection of legitimate expectations, and the customs procedure 4200


Incurrence of value added tax on importation, liability to pay tax and the deduction of value added tax in the event a customs debt is incurred due to irregularities


Export transactions, in particular the determination of the person that becomes exporter and documentation for exemption from taxation


Taxation of forwarding and other logistics services in connection with imports and exports, including correct invoicing and documentation


Evaluation of special transaction scenarios: triangular transactions, chain transactions, including fine trading, consignment warehouses, etc.


Focus areas

Our clients include businesses for which customs procedures have an economic impact because of their cross-border supply and production chains, businesses with complex distribution structures to supply EU markets with third-country goods as well as forwarders, warehousekeepers and other logistics provides who are exposed to special VAT risks because of the type of activity in which they engage. Since our team has many years of experience both in customs and VAT law, we are able to offer complex solutions to these interface problems as a “one stop shop”.

EU VAT reform 2020/2022

According to plans of the EU, a definitive VAT system for the taxation of trade between Member States is to be introduced by 2022 and will, among other things, remove the tax exemption of intra-Community deliveries. Certain “quick fixes” came into force already on 1 January 2020 to render the VAT system more robust against fraud. To this end, the obligations to provide supporting documents for intra-Community deliveries were standardised for the first time and made even stricter. Moreover, the EU defined rules for the evaluation of intra-Community chain transactions and consignment warehouses for the first time. Businesses have to consider these new developments thoroughly because the changes that have to be made to existing processes in many cases require extensive efforts. Our team can provide assistance on these matters.

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