Implementing regulation 2011/282 - Implementing measures for the VAT Directive (recast) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 77/1

A number of substantial changes are to be made to Council Regulation (EC) No 1777/2005 of 17 October 2005 laying down implementing measures for Directive 77/388/EEC on the common system of value added tax (2). It is desirable, for reasons of clarity and rationalisation, that the provisions in question should be recast.

Directive 2006/112/EC contains rules on value added tax (VAT) which, in some cases, are subject to interpretation by the Member States. The adoption of common provisions implementing Directive 2006/112/EC should ensure that application of the VAT system complies more fully with the objective of the internal market, in cases where divergences in application have arisen or may arise which are incompatible with the proper functioning of such internal market. These implementing measures are legally binding only from the date of the entry into force of this Regulation and are without prejudice to the validity of the legislation and interpretation previously adopted by the Member States.

Changes resulting from the adoption of Council Directive 2008/8/EC of 12 February 2008 amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards the place of supply of services (3) should be reflected in this Regulation.

The objective of this Regulation is to ensure uniform application of the current VAT system by laying down rules implementing Directive 2006/112/EC, in particular in respect of taxable persons, the supply of goods and services, and the place of taxable transactions. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this objective. Since it is binding and directly applicable in all Member States, uniformity of application will be best ensured by a Regulation.

These implementing provisions contain specific rules in response to selective questions of application and are designed to bring uniform treatment throughout the Union to those specific circumstances only. They are therefore not conclusive for other cases and, in view of their formulation, are to be applied restrictively.

If a non-taxable person changes residence and transfers a new means of transport, or a new means of transport returns to the Member State from which it was originally supplied exempt of VAT to the non-taxable person returning it, it should be clarified that such a transfer does not constitute the intra-Community acquisition of a new means of transport.

For certain services, it is sufficient for the supplier to demonstrate that the customer for these services, whether or not a taxable person, is located outside the Community for the supply of those services to fall outside the scope of VAT.

It should be specified that the allocation of a VAT identification number to a taxable person who makes or receives a supply of services to or from another Member State, and for which the VAT is payable solely by the customer, does not affect the right of that taxable person to benefit from non-taxation of his intra-Community acquisitions of goods. However, if the taxable person communicates his VAT identification number to...