The Official Journal of the European Union of the 27th of July 2020 publishes the Commission Decision (EU) 2020/1101 of 23 July 2020 that amends its former Decision (EU) 2020/491 on relief from import duties and VAT exemption on importation granted for goods needed to combat the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak during 2020. The aim is to extend for three more months, so until the 31st October 2020, the temporary exemption of Customs duties and VAT on imports that was introduced by the Commission...

The European Commission sent a letter of formal notice the 14th of May 2020to Spain to the effect that the Spanish regulations are contrary to Regulation (EU) No. 260/2012 of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No. 924/2009 (the SEPA Regulation), from the moment that they prevent the settlement of taxes through  non-Spanish payment service providers, such as banks. In practice and contrary to w...

On 15 May 2020, the European Commission published a notice  on EU rules in the field of prohibitions and restrictions of imports and exports, in particular, import and/or export licences following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The importation or exportation of certain goods is banned or limited within the European Union, unless relevant authorizations or approvals are obtained. The notice provides an overview of the product types subject to such prohibitions and/o...

Interesting article on the last IBDF signed by Teresa Morales and Julie Rogers-Glabushat titled the "Emergency Tax Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Full Picture in Europe"   This article provides anoverview of the national measures adopted by 47 European countries so to deal with the crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures adopted are grouped into categories according to their purpose of each measure, and an analysis is made about further steps that need to be...

The congress activity and, in general, the provision of services relating to events such as cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment or similar can be rather complex from their VAT regime point of view. Many of the circumstances likely to occur in this sector of activity may result into to completely different scenarios from a VAT point of view. Examples of such circumstances are: The service provider being the organizer of the event himself, appearing in his own name...

The agenda and supporting documents concerning the most recent VAT Committee meeting have now been made available online.   At its 116th meeting, the VAT Committee reviewed implementation of the Quick Fixes Package, issues surrounding the Voucher Directive, VAT aspects of centralized customs clearance, immovable property as a supply for consideration, reduced VAT rates on supplies of electricity, services supplied by digital platforms, VAT identification numbers obtained after the chargeability ...