1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B SIXTHCOUNCILDIRECTIVE
of17May1977
on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common
systemofvalueaddedtax:uniformbasisofassessment
(77/388/EEC)
(OJ L 145, 13.6.1977, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1EleventhCouncil Directive of 26 March1980 (80/368/EEC) L 90 41 3.4.1980
►M2TenthCouncil Directive of 31July 1984 (84/386/EEC) L 208 58 3.8.1984
►M3Eighteenth Council Directive of 18 July 1989 (89/465/EEC) L 226 21 3.8.1989
►M4Council Directive of 16 December 1991 (91/680/EEC) L 376 1 31.12.1991
►M5Council Directive 92/77/EEC of 19 October 1992 L 316 1 31.10.1992
►M6Council Directive 92/111/EEC of 14 December 1992 L 384 47 30.12.1992
►M7Council Directive 94/4/EC of 14 February 1994 L 60 14 3.3.1994
►M8Council Directive 94/5/EC of 14 February 1994 L 60 16 3.3.1994
►M9Council Directive 94/76/EC of 22 December 1994 L 365 53 31.12.1994
►M10Council Directive 95/7/EC of 10 April 1995 L 102 18 5.5.1995
►M11Council Directive 96/42/EC of 25 June 1996 L 170 34 9.7.1996
►M12Council Directive 96/95/EC of 20 December 1996 L 338 89 28.12.1996
►M13Council Directive 98/80/EC of 12 October 1998 L 281 31 17.10.1998
►M14Council Directive 1999/49/EC of 25 May 1999 L 139 27 2.6.1999
►M15Council Directive 1999/59/EC of 17 June 1999 L 162 63 26.6.1999
►M16Council Directive 1999/85/EC of 22 October 1999 L 277 34 28.10.1999
►M17Council Directive 2000/17/EC of 30 March2000 L 84 24 5.4.2000
►M18Council Directive 2000/65/EC of 17 October 2000 L 269 44 21.10.2000
►M19Council Directive ►C32001/4/EC ◄of 19 January 2001 L 22 17 24.1.2001
►M20Council Directive 2001/115/EC of 20 December 2001 L 15 24 17.1.2002
►M21Council Directive 2002/38/EC of 7 May 2002 L 128 41 15.5.2002
►M22►C4Council Directive 2002/93/EC ◄of 3 December 2002 L 331 27 7.12.2002
Amended by:
►A1Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A2Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 272, 17.9.1992, p. 72 (91/680/EEC)
1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 2
►C2Corrigendum, OJ L 197, 6.8.1993, p. 57 (92/111/EEC)
►C3Corrigendum, OJ L 26, 27.1.2001, p. 40 (2001/4/EC)
►C4Corrigendum, OJ L 18, 23.1.2003, p. 55 (2002/93/EC)
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
▼B
SIXTHCOUNCILDIRECTIVE
of17May1977
on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to
turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform
basisofassessment
(77/388/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 99 and 100 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(2);
Whereas all Member States have adopted a system of value added tax
in accordance withth e first and second Council Directives of 11 April
1967 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States realting(SIC! relating) to turnover taxes(
3);
Whereas the Decision of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of financial
contributions from Member States by the Communities' ownresources(
4) provides that the budget of the Communities shall, irre-
spective of other revenue, be financed entirely from the Communities'
own resources; whereas these resources are to include those accruingfrom value added tax and obtained by applying a common rate of taxon a basis of assessment determined in a uniform manner according toCommunity rules;
Whereas further progress should be made in the effective removal of
restrictions on the movement of persons, goods, services and capital
and the integration of national economies;
Whereas account should be taken of the objective of abolishing the
imposition of tax on the importation and the remission of tax on expor-tation in trade between Member States; whereas it should be ensuredthat the common system of turnover taxes is non-discriminatory as
regards the origin of goods and services, so that a common market
permitting fair competition and resembling a real internal market mayultimately be achieved;
Whereas, to enhance the non-discriminatory nature of the tax, the term
‘taxable person’ must be clarified to enable the Member States to
extend it to cover persons who occasionally carry out certain transac-
tions;
Whereas the term ‘taxable transaction’ has led to difficulties, in parti-
cular as regards transactions treated as taxable transactions; whereasthese concepts must be clarified;
Whereas the determination of the place where taxable transactions are
effected has been the subject of conflicts concerning jurisdiction as
between Member States, in particular as regards supplies of goods for
assembly and the supply of services; whereas although the place wherea supply of services is effected should in principle be defined as theplace where the person supplying the services has his principal placeof business, that place should be defined as being in the country of
the person to whom the services are supplied, in particular in the case
of certain services supplied between taxable persons where the cost ofthe services is included in the price of the goods;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 3
(1) OJ No C 40, 8. 4. 1974, p. 25.
(2) OJ No C 139, 12. 11. 1974, p. 15.
(3) OJ No 71, 14. 4. 1967, p. 1301/67.
(4) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 19.
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Whereas the concepts of chargeable event and of the charge to tax
must be harmonized if the introduction and any subsequent alterationsof the Community rate are to become operative at the same time in all
Member States;
Whereas the taxable base must be harmonized so that the application of
the Community rate to taxable transactions leads to comparable resultsin all the Member States;
Whereas the rates applied by Member States must be such as to allow
the normal deduction of the tax applied at the preceding stage;
Whereas a common list of exemptions should be drawn up so that the
Communities own resources may be collected in a uniform manner inall the Member States;
Whereas the rules governing deductions should be harmonized to the
extent that they affect the actual amounts collected; whereas the deduc-tible proportion should be calculated in a similar manner in all the
Member States;
Whereas it should be specified which persons are liable to pay tax, in
particular as regards services supplied by a person established inanother country;
Whereas the obligations of taxpayers must be harmonized as far as
possible so as to ensure the necessary safeguards for the collection oftaxes in a uniform manner in all the Member States; whereas taxpayersshould, in particular, make a periodic aggregate return of their transac-tions, relating to both inputs and outputs where this appears necessary
for establishing and monitoring the basis of assessment of own
resources;
Whereas Member States should nevertheless be able to retain their
special schemes for small undertakings, in accordance with commonprovisions, and with a view to closer harmonization; whereas MemberStates should remain free to apply a special scheme involving flat raterebates of input value added tax to farmers not covered by normal
schemes; whereas the basic principles of this scheme should be estab-
lished and a common method adopted for calculating the value addedof these farmers for the purposes of collecting own resources;
Whereas the uniform application of the provisions of this Directive
should be ensured; whereas to this end a Community procedure forconsultation should be laid down; whereas the setting up of a ValueAdded Tax Committee would enable the Member States and the
Commission to cooperate closely;
Whereas Member States should be able, within certain limits and
subject to certain conditions, to take or retain special measures dero-
gating from this Directive in order to simplify the levying of tax or toavoid fraud or tax avoidance;
Whereas it might appear appropriate to authorize Member States to
conclude withnon-member countries or international organizationsagreements containing derogations from this Directive;
Whereas it is vital to provide for a transitional period to allow national
laws in specified fields to be gradually adapted,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
TITLE I
INTRODUCTORYPROVISIONS
Article 1
Member States shall modify their present value added tax systems in
accordance withth e following Articles.
They shall adopt the necessary laws, regulations and administrative
provisions so that the systems as modified enter into force at theearliest opportunity and by 1 January 1978 at the latest.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 4
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TITLE II
SCOPE
Article 2
The following shall be subject to value added tax:1. the supply of goods or services effected for consideration within the
territory of the country by a taxable person acting as such;
2. the importation of goods.
TITLE III
TERRITORIALAPPLICATION
Article 3
(1) For the purposes of this Directive:
— ‘territory of a Member State’ shall mean the territory of the country
as defined in respect of eachMember State in paragraph s 2 and 3,
— ‘Community’ and ‘territory of the Community’ shall mean the terri-
tory of the Member States as defined in respect of each Member
State in paragraphs 2 and 3,
— ‘third territory’ and ‘third country’ shall mean any territory other
than those defined in paragraphs 2 and 3 as the territory of aMember State.
(2) For the purposes of this Directive, the ‘territory of the country’
shall be the area of application of the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community as defined in respect of eachMember State in
Article 227.
(3) The following territories of individual Member States shall be
excluded from the territory of the country:
— Federal Republic of Germany:
the Island of Heligoland,
the territory of Büsingen,
— Kingdom of Spain:
Ceuta,Melilla,
— Republic of Italy:
Livigno,
Campione d'Italia,
the Italian wates (SIC! waters) of Lake Lugano.
The following territories of individual Member States shall also be
excluded from the territory of the country:
— Kingdom of Spain:
the Canary Islands,
— FrenchRepublic:
the overseas departments,
— Hellenic Republic
ΆγιοΌρος.
(4) By way of derogation from paragraph1, in view of th e conven-
tions and treaties which they have concluded respectively with the
FrenchRepublic and th e United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, the Principality of Monaco and the Isle of Man shallnot be treated for the purposes of the application of this Directive asthird territories.
Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that transac-
tions originating in or intended for:
— the Principality of Monaco are treated as transactions originating in
or intended for the French Republic,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 5
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— the Isle of Man are treated as transactions originating in or intended
for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
(5) If the Commission considers that the provisions laid down in
paragraphs 3 and 4 are no longer justified, particularly in terms of faircompetition or own resources, it shall submit appropriate proposals tothe Council.
TITLE IV
TAXABLEPERSONS
Article 4
1. ‘Taxable person’ shall mean any person who independently
carries out in any place any economic activity specified in paragraph2, whatever the purpose or results of that activity.
2. The economic activities referred to in paragraph 1 shall comprise
all activities of producers, traders and persons supplying services
including mining and agricultural activities and activities of the profes-sions. The exploitation of tangible or intangible property for thepurpose of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis shallalso be considered an economic activity.
3. Member States may also treat as a taxable person anyone who
carries out, on an occasional basis, a transaction relating to the activ-
ities referred to in paragraph2 and in particular one of th e following:
(a) the supply before first occupation of buildings or parts of buildings
and the land on which they stand; Member States may determinethe conditions of application of this criterion to transformations of
buildings and the land on which they stand.
Member States may apply criteria other than that of first occupa-
tion, such as the period elapsing between the date of completionof the building and the date of first supply or the period elapsing
between the date of first occupation and the date of subsequent
supply, provided that these periods do not exceed five years andtwo years respectively.
‘A building’ shall be taken to mean any structure fixed to or in the
ground;
(b) the supply of building land.
‘Building land’ shall mean any unimproved or improved land
defined as suchby th e Member States.
4. The use of the word ‘independently’ in paragraph 1 shall exclude
employed and other persons from the tax in so far as they are bound to
an employer by a contract of employment or by any other legal ties
creating the relationship of employer and employee as regards workingconditions, remuneration and the employer's liability.
Subject to the consultations provided for in Article 29, each Member
State may treat as a single taxable person persons established in the
territory of the country who, while legally independent, are closely
bound to one another by financial, economic and organizational links.
5. States, regional and local government authorities and other bodies
governed by public law shall not be considered taxable persons inrespect of the activities or transactions in which they engage as publicauthorities, even where they collect dues, fees, contributions or
payments in connection withth ese activities or transactions.
However, when they engage in such activities or transactions, they
shall be considered taxable persons in respect of these activities ortransactions where treatment as non-taxable persons would lead tosignificant distortions of competition.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 6
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In any case, these bodies shall be considered taxable persons in relation
to the activities listed in Annex D, provided they are not carried out onsucha small scale as to be negligible.
Member States may consider activities of these bodies which are
exempt under Article 13 or 28 as activities which they engage in aspublic authorities.
TITLE V
TAXABLETRANSACTIONS
Article 5
Supplyofgoods
1. ‘Supply of goods’ shall mean the transfer of the right to dispose
of tangible property as owner.
2. Electric current, gas, heat, refrigeration and the like shall be
considered tangible property.
3. Member States may consider the following to be tangible prop-
erty:
(a) certain interest in immovable property;
(b) rightsinremgiving the holder thereof a right of user over immo-
vable property;
(c) shares or interests equivalent to shares giving the holder thereof de
jureordefactorights of ownership or possession over immovable
property or part thereof.
4. The following shall also be considered supplies within the
meaning of paragraph1:
(a) the transfer, by order made by or in the name of a public authority
or in pursuance of the law, of the ownership of property against
payment of compensation;
(b) the actual handing over of goods, pursuant to a contract for the hire
of goods for a certain period or for the sale of goods on deferredterms, which provides that in the normal course of events owner-ship shall pass at the latest upon payment of the final instalment;
(c) the transfer of goods pursuant to a contract under which commis-
sion is payable on purchase or sale.
5. Member States may consider the handing over of certain works of
construction to be supplies within the meaning of paragraph 1.
6. The application by a taxable person of goods forming part of his
business assets for his private use or that of his staff, or the disposal
thereof free of charge or more generally their application for purposesother than those of his business, where the value added tax on thegoods in question or the component parts thereof was wholly or partlydeductible, shall be treated as supplies made for consideration.
However, applications for the giving of samples or the making of gifts
of small value for the purposes of the taxable person's business shallnot be so treated.
7. Member States may treat as supplies made for consideration:
(a) the application by a taxable person for the purposes of his business
of goods produced, constructed, extracted, processed, purchased orimported in the course of such business, where the value added tax
on such goods, had they been acquired from another taxable
person, would not be wholly deductible;
(b) the application of goods by a taxable person for the purposes of a
non-taxable transaction, where the value added tax on such goodsbecame wholly or partly deductible upon their acquisition or upontheir application in accordance with subparagraph (a);1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 7
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(c) except in those cases mentioned in paragraph 8, the retention of
goods by a taxable person or his successors when he ceases tocarry out a taxable economic activity where the value added tax
on such goods became wholly or partly deductible upon their
acquisition or upon their application in accordance with subpara-graph(a).
8. In the event of a transfer, whether for consideration or not or as a
contribution to a company, of a totality of assets or part thereof,Member States may consider that no supply of goods has taken placeand in that event the recipient shall be treated as the successor to thetransferor. Where appropriate, Member States may take the necessary
measures to prevent distortion of competition in cases where the reci-
pient is not wholly liable to tax.
Article 6
Supplyofservices
1. ‘Supply of services’ shall mean any transaction which does not
constitute a supply of goods within the meaning of Article 5.
Suchtransactions may include interalia :
— assignments of intangible property whether or not it is the subject
of a document establishing title,
— obligations to refrain from an act or to tolerate an act or situation,
— the performances of services in pursuance of an order made by or in
the name of a public authority or in pursuance of the law.
2. The following shall be treated as supplies of services for consid-
eration:
(a) the use of goods forming part of the assets of a business for the
private use of the taxable person or of his staff or more generallyfor purposes other than those of his business where the value addedtax on suchgoods is wh olly or partly deductible;
(b) supplies of services carried out free of charge by the taxable person
for his own private use or that of his staff or more generally for
purposes other than those of his business.
Member States may derogate from the provisions of this paragraph
provided that such derogation does not lead to distortion of competi-
tion.
3. In order to prevent distortion of competition and subject to the
consultations provided for in Article 29, Member States may treat as a
supply of services for consideration the supply by a taxable person of aservice for the purposes of his undertaking where the value added taxon such a service, had it been supplied by another taxable person,would not be wholly deductible.
4. Where a taxable person acting in his own name but on behalf of
another takes part in a supply of services, he shall be considered tohave received and supplied those services himself.
5. Article 5 (8) shall apply in like manner to the supply of services.
Article 7
Imports
1. ‘Importation’ of goods shall mean:
(a) the entry into the Community of goods which do not fulfil the
conditions laid down in Articles 9 and 10 of the Treaty establishingthe European Economic Community or, where the goods arecovered by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and SteelCommunity, are not in free circulation;
(b) the entry into the Community of goods from a third territory, other
than the goods covered by (a).1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 8
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2. The place of import of goods shall be the Member State within
the territory of which the goods are when they enter the Community.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, where goods referred to in para-
graph 1 (a) are, on entry into the Community, placed under one of thearrangements referred to in Article 16 (1) (B) ►
M6(a), (b), (c) and
(d)◄, under arrangements for temporary importation withtotal
exemption from import duty or under external transit arrangements,
the place of import of such goods shall be the Member State withinthe territory of which they cease to be covered by those arrangements.
Similarly, when goods referred to in paragraph 1 (b) are placed, on
entry into the Community, under one of the procedures referred to in
Article 33a (1) (b) or (c), the place of import shall be the Member State
within whose territory this procedure ceases to apply.
TITLE VI
PLACEOFTAXABLETRANSACTIONS
Article 8
Supplyofgoods
1. The place of supply of goods shall be deemed to be:
(a) in the case of goods dispatched or transported either by the supplier
or by the person to whom they are supplied or by a third person:the place where the goods are at the time when dispatch or trans-
port to the person to whom they are supplied begins. where the
goods are installed or assembled, withor with out a trial run, by oron behalf of the supplier, the place of supply shall be deemed to bethe place where the goods are installed or assembled. In caseswhere the installation or assembly is carried out ►
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Member State other than, ◄that of the supplier, ►M4the
Member State within the territory of which the installation or
assembly is carried out ◄shall take any necessary steps to avoid
double taxation in that State;
(b) in the case of goods not dispatched or transported: the place where
the goods are when the supply takes place.
(c) in the case of goods supplied on board ships, aircraft or trains
during the part of a transport of passengers effected in the Commu-nity: at the point of the departure of the transport of passengers.
For the purposes of applying this provision:
— ‘part of a transport of passengers effected in the Community’ shall
mean the part of the transport effected, without a stop in a thirdterritory, between the point of departure and the point of arrival ofthe transport of passengers,
— ‘the point of departure of the transport of passengers’ shall mean
the first point of passenger embarkation foreseen within the
Community, where relevant after a leg outside the Community,
— ‘the point of arrival of the transport of passengers’ shall mean the
last point of disembarkation of passengers foreseen within theCommunity of passengers who embarked in the Community, where
relevant before a leg outside the Community.
In the case of a return trip, the return leg shall be considered to be a
separate transport.
The Commission shall, by 30 June 1993 at the latest, submit to the
Council a report accompanied, if necessary, by appropriate proposalson the place of taxation of goods supplied for consumption andservices, including restaurant services, provided for passengers on
board ships, aircraft or trains.
By 31 December 1993, after consulting the European Parliament, the
Council shall take a unanimous decision on the Commission proposal.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 9
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Until 31 December 1993, Member States may exempt or continue to
exempt goods supplied for consumption on board whose place of taxa-tion is determined in accordance withth e above provisions, withth e
right to deduct the value added tax paid at an earlier stage.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 (a), where the place of
departure of the consignment or transport of goods is in a third terri-tory, the place of supply by the importer as defined in ►
M18Article
21(4)◄and the place of any subsequent supplies shall be deemed to
be within the Member State of import of the goods.
Article 9
Supplyofservices
1. The place where a service is supplied shall be deemed to be the
place where the supplier has established his business or has a fixed
establishment from which the service is supplied or, in the absence ofsuch a place of business or fixed establishment, the place where he hashis permanent address or usually resides.
2. However:
(a) the place of the supply of services connected with immovable prop-
erty, including the services of estate agents and experts, and of
services for preparing and coordinating construction works, suchas the services of architects and of firms providing on-site supervi-sion, shall be the place where the property is situated;
(b) the place where transport services are supplied shall be the place
where transport takes place, having regard to the distances covered;
(c) the place of the supply of services relating to:
— cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, entertainment
or similar activities, including the activities of the organizers
of such activities, and where appropriate, the supply of ancillaryservices,
— ancillary transport activities suchas loading, unloading, h and-
ling and similar activities,
— valuations of movable tangible property,— work on movable tangible property,
shall be the place where those services are physically carried out;
(e) the place where the following services are supplied: when
performed for customers established outside the Community or fortaxable persons established in the Community but not in the samecountry as the supplier, shall be the place where the customer hasestablished his business or has a fixed establishment to which theservice is supplied or, in the absence of such a place, the place
where he has his permanent address or usually resides:
— transfers and assignments of copyrights, patents, licences, trade
marks and similar rights,
— advertising services,
— services of consultants, engineers, consultancy bureaux,
lawyers, accountants and other similar services, as well as dataprocessing and the supplying of information,
— obligations to refrain from pursuing or exercising, in whole or
in part, a business activity or a right referred to in this point (e),
— banking, financial and insurance transactions including reinsur-
ance, with the exception of the hire of safes,
— the supply of staff,
— the services of agents who act in the name and for the account
of another, when they procure for their principal the servicesreferred to in this point (e).1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 10
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— the hiring out of movable tangible property, with the exception
of all forms of transport ►M15,◄
— Telecommunications. Telecommunications services shall be
deemed to be services relating to the transmission, emission orreception of signals, writing, images and sounds or informationof any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagneticsystems, including the related transfer or assignment of the right
to use capacity for suchtransmission, emission or reception.
Telecommunications services within the meaning of this provi-sion shall also include provision of access to global informationnetworks ►
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— radio and television broadcasting services,
— electronically supplied services, inter alia , those described in
Annex L;
(f) the place where services referred to in the last indent of subpara-
graph(e) are supplied wh en performed for non-taxable persons
who are established, have their permanent address or usually residein a Member State, by a taxable person who has established hisbusiness or has a fixed establishment from which the service issupplied outside the Community or, in the absence of such a placeof business or fixed establishment, has his permanent address or
usually resides outside the Community, shall be the place where
the non-taxable person is established, has his permanent addressor usually resides.
3. In order to avoid double taxation, non-taxation or the distortion of
competition, the Member States may, with regard to the supply ofservices referred to in paragraph2(e), except for th e services referredto in the last indent when supplied to non-taxable persons, and alsowith regard to the hiring out of forms of transport consider:
(a) the place of supply of services, which under this Article would be
situated within the territory of the country, as being situated outsidethe Community where the effective use and enjoyment of the
services take place outside the Community;
(b) the place of supply of services, which under this Article would be
situated outside the Community, as being within the territory of thecountry where the effective use and enjoyment of the services takeplace within the territory of the country.
4. In the case of telecommunications services and radio and televi-
sion broadcasting services referred to in paragraph2(e) wh enperformed for non-taxable persons who are established, have theirpermanent address or usually reside in a Member State, by a taxable
person who has established his business or has a fixed establishment
from which the service is supplied outside the Community, or in theabsence of such a place of business or fixed establishment, has hispermanent address or usually resides outside the Community, MemberStates shall make use of paragraph 3(b).
TITLE VII
CHARGEABLEEVENTANDCHARGEABILITYOFTAX
Article 10
1. (a) ‘Chargeable event’ shall mean the occurrence by virtue of which
the legal conditions necessary for tax to become chargeable are
fulfilled.
(b) The tax becomes ‘chargeable’ when the tax authority becomes
entitled under the law at a given moment to claim the tax fromthe person liable to pay, notwithstanding that the time ofpayment may be deferred.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 11
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2. The chargeable event shall occur and the tax shall become
chargeable when the goods are delivered or the services are performed.Deliveries of goods other than those referred to in Article 5 (4) (b) and
supplies of services which give rise to successive statements of account
or payments shall be regarded as being completed at the time when theperiods to which such statements of account or payments pertainexpire.►
M18Member States may in certain cases provide that
continuous supplies of goods and services which take place over a
period of time shall be regarded as being completed at least at intervals
of one year. ◄
However, where a payment is to be made on account before the goods
are delivered or the services are performed, the tax shall become
chargeable on receipt of the payment and on the amount received.
By way of derogation from the above provisions, Member States may
provide that the tax shall become chargeable, for certain transactions or
for certain categories of taxable person, either:
— no later than the issue of the invoice ►M20 ◄,o r
— no later than receipt of the price, or
— where an invoice ►M20 ◄is not issued, or is issued
late, within a specified period from the date of the chargeableevent.
3. The chargeable event shall occur and the tax shall become
chargeable when the goods are imported. Where goods are placedunder one of the arrangements referred to in Article 7 (3) on entryinto the Community, the chargeable event shall occur and the tax shallbecome chargeable only when the goods cease to be covered by thosearrangements.
However, where imported goods are subject to customs duties, to agri-
cultural levies or to charges having equivalent effect established undera common policy, the chargeable event shall occur and the tax shall
become chargeable when the chargeable event for those Community
duties occurs and those duties become chargeable.
Where imported goods are not subject to any of those Community
duties, Member States shall apply the provisions in force governing
customs duties as regards the occurrence of the chargeable event and
the moment when the tax becomes chargeable.
TITLE VIII
TAXABLEAMOUNT
Article 11
A.Withintheterritoryofthecountry
1. The taxable amount shall be:
(a) in respect of supplies of goods and services other than those
referred to in (b), (c) and (d) below, everything which constitutesthe consideration which has been or is to be obtained by thesupplier from the purchaser, the customer or a third party for such
supplies including subsidies directly linked to the price of such
supplies;
(b) in respect of supplies referred to in Article 5 (6) and (7), the
purchase price of the goods or of similar goods or, in the absenceof a purchase price, the cost price, determined as the time ofsupply;
(c) in respect of supplies referred to in Article 6 (2), the full cost to the
taxable person of providing the services;
(d) in respect of supplies referred to in Article 6 (3), the open market
value of the services supplied.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 12
▼M4
▼B
▼B
‘Open market value’ of services shall mean the amount which a
customer at the marketing stage at which the supply takes place wouldhave to pay to a supplier at arm's length within the territory of the
country at the time of the supply under conditions of fair competition
to obtain the services in question.
2. The taxable amount shall include:
(a) taxes, duties, levies and charges, excluding the value added tax
itself;
(b) incidental expenses suchas commission, packing, transport and
insurance costs charged by the supplier to the purchaser or
customer. Expenses covered by a separate agreement may be
considered to be incidental expenses by the Member States.
3. The taxable amount shall not include:
(a) price reductions by way of discount for early payment;
(b) price discounts and rebates allowed to the customer and accounted
for at the time of the supply;
(c) the amounts received by a taxable person from his purchaser or
customer as repayment for expenses paid out in the name and forthe account of the latter and which are entered in his books in asuspense account. The taxable person must furnish proof of theactual amount of this expenditure and may not deduct any tax
which may have been charged on these transactions.
4. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, Member States
which, on 1 January 1993, did not avail themselves of the option
provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 12 (3) (a) may, where
they avail themselves of the option provided for in Title B (6), providethat, for the transactions referred to in the second subparagraph ofArticle 12 (3) (c), the taxable amount shall be equal to a fraction ofthe amount determined in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3.
That fraction shall be determined in such a way that the value added
tax thus due is, in any event, equal to at least 5 % of the amount deter-mined in accordance withparagraph s 1, 2 and 3.
B.Importationofgoods
1. The taxable amount shall be the value for customs purposes,
determined in accordance withth e Community provisions in force;
this shall also apply for the import of goods referred to in Article 7(1) (b).
3. The taxable amount shall include, in so far as they are not alreadyincluded:
(a) taxes, duties, levies and other charges due outside the importing
Member State and those due by reason of importation, excludingthe value added tax to be levied;
(b) incidental expenses, suchas commission, packing, transport and
insurance costs, incurred up to the first place of destination withinthe territory of the importing Member State.
‘First place of destination’ shall mean the place mentioned on the
consignment note or any other document by means of which thegoods are imported into the importing Member State. In theabsence of such an indication, the first place of destination shallbe taken to be the place of the first transfer of cargo in theimporting Member State.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 13
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▼M6
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▼M10
The incidental expenses referred to above shall also be included in
the taxable amount where they result from transport to anotherplace of destination within the territory of the Community if that
place is known when the chargeable event occurs.
4. The taxable amount shall not include those factors referred to in
A (3) (a) and (b).
5. When goods have been temporarily exported ►
M4from the
Community ◄and are re-imported after having undergone
►M4outside the Community ◄repair, processing or adaptation, or
after having been made up or reworked abroad,►
M4 ◄Member States shall take steps to ensure that
the treatment of the goods for value added tax purposes is the same
as that which would have applied to the goods in question had theabove operations been carried out within the territory of the country.
6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 to 4, Member States
which, on 1 January 1993, did not avail themselves of the option
provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 12 (3) (a) may
provide that for imports of the works of art, collectors' items andantiques defined in Article 26a (A) (a), (b) and (c), the taxable amountshall be equal to a fraction of the amount determined in accordancewithparagraph s 1 to 4.
That fraction shall be determined in such a way that the value added
tax thus due on the import is, in any event, equal to at least 5 % of
the amount determined in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 4.
C.Miscellaneousprovisions
1. In the case of cancellation, refusal or total or partial non-payment,
or where the price is reduced after the supply takes place, the taxable
amount shall be reduced accordingly under conditions which shall be
determined by the Member States.
However, in the case of total or partial non-payment, Member States
may derogate from this rule.
2. Where information for determining the taxable amount on impor-
tation is expressed in a currency other than that of the Member State
where assessment takes place, the exchange rate shall be determined
in accordance with the Community provisions governing the calcula-tion of the value for customs purposes.
Where information for the determination of the taxable amount of a
transaction other than an import transaction is expressed in a currencyother than that of the Member State where assessment takes place, the
exchange rate applicable shall be the latest selling rate recorded, at the
time the tax becomes chargeable, on the most representative exchangemarket or markets of the Member State concerned, or a rate determinedby reference to that or those markets, in accordance with the down bythat Member State. However, for some of those transactions or for
certain categories of taxable person, Member States may continue to
apply the exchange rate determined in accordance with the Communityprovisions in force governing the calculation of the value for customspurposes.
3. As regards returnable packing costs, Member States may:
— either exclude them from the taxable amount and take the necessary
measures to see that this amount is adjusted if the packing is notreturned,
— or include them in the taxable amount and take the necessary
measures to see that this amount is adjusted where the packing isin fact returned.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 14
▼B
▼M8
▼B
▼M4
▼B
▼B
TITLE IX
RATES
Article 12
1. The rate applicable to taxable transactions shall be that in force at
the time of the chargeable event. However:
(a) in the cases provided for in the second and third subparagraphs of
Article 10 (2), the rate to be used shall be that in force when the
tax becomes chargeable;
(b) in the cases provided for in the second and third subparagraphs of
Article 10 (3), the rate applicable shall be that in force at the timewhen the tax becomes chargeable.
2. In the event of changes in the rates, Member States may:
— effect adjustments in the cases provided for in paragraph 1 (a) in
order to take account of the rate applicable at the time when thegoods or services were supplied,
— adopt all appropriate transitional measures.
3. (a) The standard rate of value added tax shall be fixed by each
Member State as a percentage of the taxable amount and shall
be the same for the supply of goods and for the supply of
services. From 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005, thispercentage may not be less than 15 %.
On a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the
European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee,
the Council shall decide unanimously on the level of the stan-
dard rate to be applied after 31 December 2005.
Member States may also apply either one or two reduced rates.
These rates shall be fixed as a percentage of the taxable amount,which may not be less than 5 %, and shall apply only to
supplies of the categories of goods and services specified in
Annex H.
The third subparagraph shall not apply to the services referred to
in the last indent of Article 9(2)(e).
(b) Member States may apply a reduced rate to supplies of natural
gas and electricity provided that no risk of distortion of compe-tition exists. A Member State intending to apply sucha rate
must, before doing so, inform the Commission. The Commission
shall give a decision on the existence of a risk of distortion ofcompetition. If the Commission has not taken that decisionwithin three months of the receipt of the information a risk ofdistortion of competition is deemed not to exist.
(c) Member States may provide that the reduced rate, or one of the
reduced rates, which they apply in accordance with the thirdparagraphof (a) sh all also apply to imports of works of art,collectors' items and antiques as referred to in Article 26a (A)(a), (b) and (c).
Where they avail themselves of this option, Member States may
also apply the reduced rate to supplies of works of art, withinthe meaning of Article 26a (A) (a):
— effected by their creator or his successors in title,
— effected on an occasional basis by a taxable person other
than a taxable dealer, where these works of art have beenimported by the taxable person himself or where they have1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 15
▼M6
▼B
▼M19
▼M14
▼M21
▼M5
▼M8
▼M8
been supplied to him by their creator or his successors in
title or where they have entitled him to full deduction ofvalue-added tax.
4.►M5 ◄Each reduced rate shall be so fixed that
the amount of value added tax resulting from the application thereof
shall be such as in the normal way to permit the deduction therefromof the whole of the value added tax deductible under the provisions ofArticle 17.
On the basis of a report from the Commission, the Council shall,
starting in 1994, review the scope of the reduced rates every two years.The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission,may decide to alter the list of goods and services in Annex H.
5. Subject to paragraph 3 (c), the rate applicable on the importation
of goods shall be that applied to the supply of like goods within the
territory of the country.
6. The Portuguese Republic may apply to transactions carried out in
the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira and to direct
imports to those regions, reduced rates in comparison to those applyingon the mainland
TITLE X
EXEMPTIONS
Article 13
Exemptionswithintheterritory ofthecountry
A.Exemptionsforcertainactivitiesinthepublicinterest
1. Without prejudice to other Community provisions, Member States
shall exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay downfor the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward applicationof suchexemptions and of preventing any possible evasion, avoidanceor abuse:
(a) the supply by the public postal services of services other than
passenger transport and telecommunications services, and thesupply of goods incidental thereto;
(b) hospital and medical care and closely related activities undertaken
by bodies governed by public law or, under social conditionscomparable to those applicable to bodies governed by public law,by hospitals, centres for medical treatment or diagnosis and otherduly recognized establishments of a similar nature;
(c) the provision of medical care in the exercise of the medical and
paramedical professions as defined by the Member Stateconcerned;
(d) supplies of human organs, blood and milk;
(e) services supplied by dental technicians in their professional capa-
city and dental prostheses supplied by dentists and dentaltechnicians;
(f) services supplied by independent groups of persons whose activ-
ities are exempt from or are not subject to value added tax, forthe purpose of rendering their members the services directly neces-sary for the exercise of their activity, where these groups merely1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 16
▼M11
▼M13
▼B
▼M5
▼M8
▼A2
▼B
▼B
claim from their members exact reimbursement of their share of
the joint expenses, provided that such exemption is not likely toproduce distortion of competition;
(g) the supply of services and of goods closely linked to welfare and
social security work, including those supplied by old people'shomes, by bodies governed by public law or by other organiza-tions recognized as charitable by the Member State concerned;
(h) the supply of services and of goods closely linked to the protection
of children and young persons by bodies governedf by public lawor by other organizations recognized as charitable by the Member
State concerned;
(i) children's or young people's education, school or university educa-
tion, vocational training or retraining, including the supply ofservices and of goods closely related thereto, provided by bodiesgoverned by public law having such as their aim or by other orga-nizations defined by the Member State concerned as having
similar objects;
(j) tuition given privately by teachers and covering school or univer-
sity education;
(k) certain supplies of staff by religious or philosophical institutions
for the purpose of subparagraphs (b), (g), (h) and (i) of this Articleand witha view to spiritual welfare;
(l) supply of services and goods closely linked thereto for the benefit
of their members in return for a subscription fixed in accordance
withth eir rules by non-profit-making organizations withaims of
a political, tradeunion, religious, patriotic, philosophical, philan-thropic or civic nature, provided that this exemption is not likelyto cause distortion of competition;
(m) certain services closely linked to sport or physical education
supplied by non-profit-making organizations to persons takingpart in sport or physical education;
(n) certain cultural services and goods closely linked thereto supplied
by bodies governed by public law or by other cultural bodiesrecognized by the Member State concerned;
(o) the supply of services and goods by organizations whose activities
are exempt under the provisions of subparagraphs (b), (g), (h), (i),(l), (m) and (n) above in connection withfund-raising events orga-nized exclusively for their own benefit provided that exemption is
not likely to cause distortion of competition. Member States may
introduce any necessary restrictions in particular as regards thenumber of events or the amount of receipts which give entitlementto exemption;
(p) the supply of transport services for sick or injured persons in vehi-
cles specially designed for the purpose by duly authorized bodies;
(q) activities of public radio and television bodies other than those of
a commercial nature.
2. a) Member States may make the granting to bodies other than
those governed by public law of each exemption provided for
in (1) (b), (g), (h), (i), (1), (m) and (n) of this Article subject in
eachindividual case to one or more of th e following conditions:
— they shall not systematically aim to make a profit, but any
profits nevertheless arising shall not be distributed, but shallbe assigned to the continuance or improvement of theservices supplied,
— they shall be managed and administered on an essentially
voluntary basis by persons who have no direct or indirectinterest, either themselves or through intermediaries, in theresults of the activities concerned,
— they shall charge prices approved by the public authorities or
which do not exceed such approved prices or, in respect ofthose services not subject to approval, prices lower thanthose charged for similar services by commercial enterprisessubject to value added tax,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 17
▼B
— exemption of the services concerned shall not be likely to
create distortions of competition suchas to place at a disad-vantage commercial enterprises liable to value added tax.
(b) The supply of services or goods shall not be granted exemption
as provided for in (1) (b), (g), (h), (i), (l), (m) and (n) above if:
— it is not essential to the transactions exempted,
— its basic purpose is to obtain additional income for the orga-
nization by carrying out transactions which are in directcompetition withth ose of commercial enterprises liable forvalue added tax.
B.Otherexemptions
Without prejudice to other Community provisions, Member States shall
exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay down for
the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward application ofthe exemptions and of preventing any possible evasion, avoidance orabuse:
(a) insurance and reinsurance transactions, including related services
performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents;
(b) the leasing or letting of immovable property excluding:
1. the provision of accomodation (SIC! accommodation), as
defined in the laws of the Member States, in the hotel sector or
in sectors witha similar function, including th e provision of
accomodation (SIC! accommodation) in holiday camps or onsites developed for use as camping sites;
2. the letting of premises and sites for parking vehicles;
3. lettings of permanently installed equipment and machinery;
4. hire of safes.
Member States may apply further exclusions to the scope of this
exemption;
(c) supplies of goods used wholly for an activity exempted under this
Article or under Article 28 (3) (b) when these goods have not givenrise to the right to deduction, or of goods on the acquisition orproduction of which, by virtue of Article 17 (6), value added taxdid not become deductible;
(d) the following transactions:
1. the granting and the negotiation of credit and the management
of credit by the person granting it;
2. the negotiation of or any dealings in credit guarantees or any
other security for money and the management of credit guaran-tees by the person who is granting the credit;
3. transactions, including negotiation, concerning deposit and
current accounts, payments, transfers, debts, cheques and othernegotiable instruments, but excluding debt collection andfactoring;
4. transactions, including negotiation, concerning currency, bank
notes and coins used as legal tender, withth e exception ofcollectors' items; collectors' items' shall be taken to mean gold,silver or other metal coins or bank notes which are not normallyused as legal tender or coins of numismatic interest;
5. transactions, including negotiation, excluding management and
safekeeping, in shares, interests in companies or associations,debentures and other securities, excluding:
— documents establishing title to goods,
— the rights or securities referred to in Article 5 (3);
6. management of special investment funds as defined by Member
States;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 18
▼B
(e) the supply at face value of postage stamps valid for use for postal
services within the territory of the country, fiscal stamps, and othersimilar stamps;
(f) betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling, subject to conditions
and limitations laid down by eachMember State;
(g) the supply of buildings or parts thereof, and of the land on which
they stand, other than as described in Article 4 (3) (a);
(h) the supply of land which has not been built on other than building
land as described in Article 4 (3) (b).
C.Options
Member States may allow taxpayers a right of option for taxation in
cases of:
(a) letting and leasing of immovable property;
(b) the transactions covered in B (d) (g) and (h) above.
Member States may restrict the scope of this right of option and shall
fix the details of its use.
Article 14
Exemptionsonimportation
1. Without prejudice to other Community provisions, Member States
shall exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay downfor the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward applicationof suchexemption and of preventing any possible evasion, avoidanceor abuse:
(a) final importation of goods of which the supply by a taxable person
would in all circumstances be exempted within the country;
(d) final importation of goods qualifying for exemption from customs
duties other than as provided for in the Common Customs Tariff
►M4 ◄. However, Member States shall have the
option of not granting exemption where this would be liable tohave a serious effect on conditions of competition►
M4 ◄;
This exemption shall also apply to the import of goods, within the
meaning of Article 7 (1) (b), which would be capable of benefiting
from the exemption set out above if they had been imported withinthe meaning of Article 7 (1) (a).
(e) reimportation by the person who exported them of goods in the
state in which they were exported, where they qualify for exemp-tion from customs duties ►
M4 ◄;
(g) importations of goods:
— under diplomatic and consular arrangements, which qualify for
exemption from customs duties ►M4 ◄
— by international organizations recognized as suchby th e public
authorities of the host country, and by members of such organi-zations, within the limits and under the conditions laid down bythe international conventions establishing the organizations orby headquarters agreements,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 19
▼M4
▼M6
▼B
▼M6
▼B
▼M4
▼B
▼B
— into the territory of Member States which are parties to the
North Atlantic Treaty by the armed forces of other States whichare parties to that Treaty for the use of such forces or the civi-
lian staff accompanying them or for supplying their messes or
canteens where such forces take part in the common defenceeffort:
(h) importation into ports by sea fishing undertakings of their catches,
unprocessed or after undergoing preservation for marketing but
before being supplied;
(i) the supply of services, in connection with the importation of goods
where the value of such services is included in the taxable amount
in accordance withArticle 11 B (3) (b);
(j) importation of gold by Central Banks.
2. The Commission shall submit to the Council at the earliest oppor-
tunity proposals designed to lay down Community tax rules clarifyingthe scope of the exemptions referred to in paragraph 1 and detailedrules for their implementation.
Until the entry into force of these rules, Member States may:
— maintain their national provisions in force on matters related to the
above provisions,
— adapt their national provisions to minimize distortion of competi-
tion and in particular the non-imposition or double imposition ofvalue added tax within the Community,
— use whatever administrative procedures they consider most appro-
priate to achieve exemption.
Member States shall inform the Commission, which shall inform the
other Member States, of the measures they have adopted and areadopting pursuant to the preceding provisions.
Article 15
Exemption of exports from the Community and like transactions
andinternationaltransport
Without prejudice to other Community provisions Member States shall
exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay down forthe purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward application ofsuchexemptions and of preventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse:
1. the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination
►
M4outside the Community ◄by or on behalf of the vendor;
2. the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination
►M4outside the Community ◄by or on behalf of a purchaser
not established within the territory of the country, with the excep-tion of goods transported by the purchaser himself for theequipping, fuelling and provisioning of pleasure boats and private
aircraft or any other means of transport for private use;
In the case of the supply of goods to be carried in the personal
luggage of travellers, this exemption shall apply on condition that:
— the traveller is not established within the Community,
— the goods are transported to a destination outside the Commu-
nity before the end of the third month following that in which
the supply is effected,
— the total value of the supply, including value added tax, is more
than the equivalent in national currency of ECU 175, fixed inaccordance withArticle 7 (2) of Directive 69/169/EEC(
1);1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 20
(1) JO No L 133, 4. 6. 1969, p. 6. Directive as last amended by directive 94/4/
EC (JO No L 60, 3. 3. 1994, p. 14).▼M4
▼B
▼M10
▼M10
however, Member States may exempt a supply with a total
value of less than that amount.
For the purposes of applying the second subparagraph:
— a traveller not established within the Community shall be taken
to mean a traveller whose domicile or habitual residence is not
situated within the Community. For the purposes of this provi-sion, ‘domicile or habitual residence’ shall mean the placeentered as suchin a passport, identity card or oth er identitydocuments which the Member State within whose territory the
supply takes place recognizes as valid,
— proof of exportation shall be furnished by means of the invoice
or other document in lieu thereof, endorsed by the customs
office where the goods left the Community.
Each Member State shall transmit to the Commission specimens of
the stamps it uses for the endorsement referred to in the second
indent of the third subparagraph. The Commission shall transmitthis information to the tax authorities in the other Member States.
3. The supply of services consisting of work on movable property
acquired or imported for the purpose of undergoing such workwithin the territory of the Community, and dispatched or trans-ported out of the Community by the person providing the services
or by the customer if ►
M6not established within the territory of
the country ◄or on behalf of either of them;
4. the supply of goods for the fuelling and provisioning of vessels:
(a) used for navigation on the high seas and carrying passengers
for reward or used for the purpose of commercial, industrialor fishing activities;
(b) used for rescue or assistance at sea, or for inshore fishing, with
the exception, for the latter, of ships' provisions;
(c) of war, as defined in subheading 89.01 A of the Common
Customs Tariff, leaving the country and bound for foreign
ports or anchorages.
The Commission shall submit to the Council as soon as possible
proposals to establishCommunity fiscal rules specifying th e scopeof and practical arrangements for implementing this exemption andthe exemptions provided for in (5) to (9). Until these rules comeinto force, Member States may limit the extent of the exemption
provided for in this paragraph.
5. the supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring
of the sea-going vessels referred to in paragraph 4 (a) and (b) andthe supply, hiring, repair and maintenance of equipment —
including fishing equipment — incorporated or used therein;
6. the supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring
of aircraft used by airlines operating for reward chiefly on interna-
tional routes, and the supply, hiring, repair and maintenance of
equipment incorporated or used therein;
7. the supply of goods for the fuelling and provisioning of aircraft
referred to in paragraph6;
8. the supply of services other than those referred to in paragraph 5,
to meet the direct needs of the sea-going vessels referred to in thatparagraphor of th eir cargoes;
9. the supply of services other than those referred to in paragraph 6,
to meet the direct needs of aircraft referred to in that paragraph orof their cargoes;
10. supplies of goods and services:
— under diplomatic and consular arrangements,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 21
▼M4
▼B
▼M6
▼B
▼B
— to international organizations recognized as suchby th e public
authorities of the host country, and to members of such organi-zations, within the limits and under the conditions laid down by
the international conventions establishing the organizations or
by headquarters agreements,
— effected within a Member State which is a party to the North
Atlantic Treaty and intended either for the use of the forces of
other States which are parties to that Treaty or of the civilian
staff accompanying them, or for supplying their messes orcanteens when such forces take part in the common defenceeffort,
— to another Member State and intended for the forces of any
Member State which is a party to the North Atlantic Treaty,
other than the Member State of destination itself, for the use
of those forces or of the civilian staff accompanying them, orfor supplying their messes or canteens when such forces takepart in the common defense effort.
This exemption shall be ►
M4subject to ►M6limitations ◄
laid down by the host Member State ◄until Community tax rules
are adopted.
In cases where the goods are not dispatched or transported out of
the country, and in the case of services, the benefit of the exemp-tion may be given by means of a refund of the tax.
11. supplies of gold to Central Banks;
12. goods supplied to approved bodies which export them ►
M4from
the Community ◄as part of their humanitarian, charitable or
teaching activities ►M4outside the Community ◄. This exemp-
tion may be implemented by means of a refund of the tax;
13. The supply of services, including transport and ancillary opera-
tions, but excluding the supply of services exempted inaccordance with Article 13, where these are directly connectedwith the export of goods or imports of goods covered by the provi-
sions of Article 7 (3) or Article 16 (1), Title A;
14. services supplied by brokers and other intermediaries, acting in the
name and for account of another person, where they form part of
transactions specified in this Article, or of transactions carried out►
M4outside the Community ◄.
This exemption does not apply to travel agents who supply in the
name and for account of the traveller services which are suppliedin other Member States.
15. The Portuguese Republic may treat sea and air transport between
the islands making up the autonomous regions of the Azores andMadeira and between those regions and the mainland in the same
way as international transport.
Article 16
Specialexemptionslinkedtointernationalgoodstraffic
1. Without prejudice to other Community provisions, Member States
may, subject to the consultations provided for in Article 29, take
special measures designed to relieve from value added tax all or someof the following transactions, provided that they are not aimed at finaluse and/or consumption and that the amount of value added taxcharged at entry for home use corresponds to the amount of the tax1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 22
▼M4
▼B
▼M6
▼B
▼M6
▼B
▼A2
▼B
▼B
which should have been charged had each of these transactions been
taxed on import or within the territory of the country:
A. imports of goods which are intended to be placed under ware-
housing arrangements other than customs;
B. supplies of goods which are intended to be
a) produced to customs and, where applicable, placed in temporary
storage;
b) placed in a free zone or in a free warehouse;
c) placed under customs warehousing arrangements or inward
processing arrangements;
d) admitted into territorial waters:
— in order to be incorporated into drilling or production plat-
forms, for purposes of the construction, repair, maintenance,
alteration or fitting-out of suchplatforms, or to link such
drilling or production platforms to the mainland,
— for the fuelling and provisioning of drilling or production
platforms;
e) placed under warehousing arrangements other than customs.
The places referred to in (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall be as defined by
the Community customs provisions in force;
C. supplies of services relating to the supplies of goods referred to in
B;
D. supplies of goods and of services carried out in the places listed in
B and still subject to one of the arrangements specified therein;
E. supplies:
— of goods referred to in Article 7 (1) (a) still subject to arrange-
ments for temporary importation withtotal exemption fromimport duty or to external transit arrangements,
— of goods referred to in Article 7 (1) (b) still subject to the
internal Community transit procedure provided for in Article33a,
as well as supplies of services relating to suchsupplies.
2. Subject to the consultation provided for in Article 29, Member
States may opt to exempt imports for and supplies of goods to a
taxable person intending to export them as they are or after processing,as well as supplies of services linked withh is export business, up to amaximum equal to the value of his exports during the preceding 12months.
3. The Commission shall submit to the Council at the earliest oppor-
tunity proposals concerning common arrangements for applying value
added tax to the transactions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.
TITLE XI
DEDUCTIONS
Article 17
Origin andscopeoftherighttodeduct
1. The right to deduct shall arise at the time when the deductible tax
becomes chargeable.
2. In so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of
his taxable transactions, the taxable person shall be entitled to deduct
from the tax which he is liable to pay:
(a) value added tax due or paid in respect of goods or services supplied
or to be supplied to him by another taxable person;
(b) value added tax due or paid in respect of imported goods;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 23
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(c) value added tax due under Articles 5 (7) (a) and 6 (3).
3. Member States shall also grant to every taxable person the right
to a deduction or refund of the value added tax referred to in paragraph2 in so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of:
(a) transactions relating to the economic activities as referred to in
Article 4 (2) carried out in another country, which would beeligible for deduction of tax if they had occurred in the territoryof the country;
(b) transactions which are exempt under Article 14 (1) (i) and under
Articles 15 and 16 (1) (B), (C) and (D), and paragraph2;
(c) any of the transactions exempted under Article 13 B (a) and (d),
paragraphs 1 to 5, when the customer is established outside theCommunity or when these transactions are directly linked with
goods intended to be exported to a country outside the Community.
4. The Council shall endeavour to adopt before 31 December 1977,
on a proposal from the Commission and acting unanimously, Commu-nity rules laying down the arrangements under which refunds are to be
made in accordance withparagraph3 to taxable persons not establish ed
in the territory of the country. Until such Community arrangementsenter into force, Member States shall themselves determine the methodby which the refund concerned shall be made. Where the taxableperson is not resident in the territory of the Community, Member States
may refuse the refund or impose supplementary conditions.
5. As regards goods and services to be used by a taxable person both
for transactions covered by paragraphs 2 and 3, in respect of whichvalue added tax is deductible, and for transactions in respect of which
value added tax is not deductible, only suchproportion of th e value
added tax shall be deductible as is attributable to the former transac-tions.
This proportion shall be determined, in accordance with Article 19, for
all the transactions carried out by the taxable person.
However, Member States may:
(a) authorize the taxable person to determine a proportion for each
sector of his business, provided that separate accounts are kept foreachsector;
(b) compel the taxable person to determine a proportion for each sector
of his business and to keep separate accounts for each sector;
(c) authorize or compel the taxable person to make the deduction on
the basis of the use of all or part of the goods and services;
(d) authorize or compel the taxable person to make the deduction in
accordance with the rule laid down in the first subparagraph, inrespect of all goods and services used for all transactions referred
to therein;
(e) provide that where the value added tax which is not deductible by
the taxable person is insignificant it shall be treated as nil.
6. Before a period of four years at the latest has elapsed from the
date of entry into force of this Directive, the Council, acting unani-
mously on a proposal from the Commission, shall decide what
expenditure shall not be eligible for a deduction of value added tax.Value added tax shall in no circumstances be deductible on expenditurewhich is not strictly business expenditure, such as that on luxuries,amusements or entertainment.
Until the above rules come into force, Member States may retain all
the exclusions provided for under their national laws when this Direc-tive comes into force.
7. Subject to the consultation provided for in Article 29, each
Member State may, for cyclical economic reasons, totally or partlyexclude all or some capital goods or other goods from the system ofdeductions. To maintain identical conditions of competition, MemberStates may instead of refusing deduction, tax the goods manufactured1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 24
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by the taxable person himself or which he has purchased in the country
or imported, in such a way that the tax does not exceed the value addedtax which would have been charged on the acquisition of similar
goods.
Article 18
Rulesgoverningtheexercise oftherighttodeduct
1. To exercise his right to deduct, the taxable person must:
(a) in respect of deductions under Article 17 (2) (a), hold an invoice,
drawn up in accordance withArticle 22 (3);
(b) in respect of deductions under Article 17 (2) (b), hold an import
document, specifying him as consignee or importer, and stating orpermitting calculation of the amount of tax due;
(c) in respect of deductions under Article 17 (2) (c), comply withth e
formalities established by each Member State;
(d) when he is required to pay the tax as a customer or purchaser
where Article 21 (1) applies, comply with the formalities laid
down by eachMember State.
2. The taxable person shall effect the deduction by subtracting from
the total amount of value added tax due for a given tax period the totalamount of the tax in respect of which, during the same period, the right
to deduct has arisen and can be exercised under the provisions of para-
graph1.
However, Member States may require that as regards taxable persons
who carry out occasional transactions as defined in Article 4 (3), theright to deduct shall be exercised only at the time of the supply.
3. Member States shall determine the conditions and procedures
whereby a taxable person may be authorized to make a deductionwhich he has not made in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs1 and 2.
4. where for a given tax period the amount of authorized deductions
exceeds the amount of tax due, the Member States may either make arefund or carry the excess forward to the following period according toconditions which they shall determine.
However, Member States may refuse to refund or carry forward if the
amount of the excess is insignificant.
Article 19
Calculationofthedeductibleproportion
1. The proportion deductible under the first subparagraph of Article
17 (5) shall be made up of a fraction having:
— as numerator, the total amount, exclusive of value added tax, of
turnover per year attributable to transactions in respect of whichvalue added tax is deductible under Article 17 (2) and (3),
— as denominator, the total amount, exclusive of value added tax, of
turnover per year attributable to transactions included in the
numerator and to transactions in respect of which value added taxis not deductible. The Member States may also include in thedenominator the amount of subsidies, other than those specified inArticle 11 A (1) (a).
The proportion shall be determined on an annual basis, fixed as a
percentage and rounded up to a figure not exceeding the next unit.
2. By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1, there
shall be excluded from the calculation of the deductible proportion,
amounts of turnover attributable to the supplies of capital goods usedby the taxable person for the purposes of his business. Amounts ofturnover attributable to transactions specified in Article 13 B (d), inso far as these are incidental transactions, and to incidental real estateand financial transactions shall also be excluded. where Member States1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 25
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exercise the option provided under Article 20 (5) not to require adjust-
ment in respect of capital goods, they may include disposals of capitalgoods in the calculation of the deductible proportion.
3. The provisional proportion for a year shall be that calculated on
the basis of the preceding year's transactions. In the absence of any
such transactions to refer to, or where they were insignificant inamount, the deductible proportion shall be estimated provisionally,under supervision of the tax authorities, by the taxable person fromhis own forecasts. However, Member States may retain their current
rules.
Deductions made on the basis of such provisional proportion shall be
adjusted when the final proportion is fixed during the next year.
Article 20
Adjustmentsofdeductions
1. The initial deduction shall be adjusted according to the proce-
dures laid down by the Member States, in particular:
(a) where that deduction was higher or lower than that to which the
taxable person was entitled;
(b) where after the return is made some change occurs in the factors
used to determine the amount to be deducted, in particular wherepurchases are cancelled or price reductions are obtained; however,
adjustment shall not be made in cases of transactions remaining
totally or partially unpaid and of destruction, loss or theft of prop-erty duly proved or confirmed, nor in the case of applications forthe purpose of making gifts of small value and giving samplesspecified in Article 5 (6). However, Member States may require
adjustment in cases of transactions remaining totally or partially
unpaid and of theft.
2. In the case of capital goods, adjustment shall be spread over five
years including that in which the goods were acquired or manufactured.The annual adjustment shall be made only in respect of one-fifth of thetax imposed on the goods. The adjustment shall be made on the basisof the variations in the deduction entitlement in subsequent years in
relation to that for the year in which the goods were acquired or manu-
factured.
By way of derogation from the preceding subparagraph, Member States
may base the adjustment on a period of five full years starting from thetime at which the goods are first used.
In the case of immovable property acquired as capital goods, the
adjustment period may be extended up to 20 years.
3. In the case of supply during the period of adjustment capital
goods shall be regarded as if they had still been applied for businessuse by the taxable person until expiry of the period of adjustment.Suchbusiness activities are presumed to be fully taxed in cases wh erethe delivery of the said goods is taxed; they are presumed to be fullyexempt where the delivery is exempt. The adjustment shall be made
only once for the whole period of adjustment still to be covered.
However, in the latter case, Member States may waive the requirement
for adjustment in so far as the purchaser is a taxable person using thecapital goods in question solely for transactions in respect of whichvalue added tax is deductible.
4. For the purposes of applying the provisions of paragraphs 2 and
3, Member States may:
— define the concept of capital goods,
— indicate the amount of the tax which is to be taken into considera-
tion for adjustment,
— adopt any suitable measures witha view to ensuring th at adjustment
does not involve any unjustified advantage,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 26
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— permit administrative simplifications.
5. If in any Member State the practical effect of applying paragraphs
2 and 3 would be insignificant, that Member State may subject to theconsultation provided for in Article 29 forego application of these para-
graphs having regard to the need to avoid distortion of competition, the
overall tax effect in the Member State concerned and the need for dueeconomy of administration.
6. Where the taxable person transfers from being taxed in the
normal way to a special scheme or vice versa , Member States may
take all necessary measures to ensure that the taxable person neitherbenefits nor is prejudiced unjustifiably.
TITLE XII
PERSONSLIABLEFORPAYMENTFORTAX
Article 21
Personsliabletopaytaxtotheauthorities
The following shall be liable to pay value added tax:1. under the internal system:
(a) taxable persons who carry out taxable transactions other than
those referred to in Article 9 (2) (e) and carried out by a taxable
person resident abroad. When the taxable transaction is effected
by a taxable person resident abroad Member States may adoptarrangements whereby tax is payable by someone other thanthe taxable person residing abroad. Inter alia a tax representa-
tive or other person for whom the taxable transaction is carriedout may be designated as such other person. The Member States
may also provide that someone other than the taxable person
shall be held jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax;
(b) taxable persons to whom services covered by Article 9(2)(e) are
supplied or persons who are identified for value added tax
purposes within the territory of the country to whom services
covered by Article 28b(C), (D), (E) and (F) are supplied, if theservices are carried out by a taxable person established abroad;however, Member States may require that the supplier ofservices shall be held jointly and severally liable for paymentof the tax;
(c) any person who mentions the value added tax on an invoice or
other document serving as invoice;
2. on importation: the person or persons designated or accepted as
being liable by the Member States into which the goods are
imported.
TITLE XIII
OBLIGATIONSOFPERSONSLIABLEFORPAYMENT
Article 22
Obligationsundertheinternalsystem
1. Every taxable person shall state when his activity as a taxable
person commences, changes or ceases.
2. Every taxable person shall keep accounts in sufficient detail to
permit application of the value added tax and inspection by the taxauthority.
3. (a) Every taxable person shall issue an invoice, or other document
serving as invoice in respect of all goods and services suppliedby him to another taxable person, and shall keep a copy thereof.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 27
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Every taxable person shall likewise issue an invoice in respect
of payments on account made to him by another taxable personbefore the supply of goods or services is effected or completed.
(b) The invoice shall state clearly the price exclusive of tax and the
corresponding tax at eachrate as well as any exemptions.
(c) The Member States shall determine the criteria for considering
whether a document serves as an invoice.
4. Every taxable person shall submit a return within an interval to be
determined by eachMember State. Th is interval may not exceed twomonths following the end of each tax period. The tax period may befixed by Member States as a month, two months, or a quarter.However, Member States may fix different periods provided that these
do not exceed a year
The return must set out all the information needed to calculate the tax
that has become chargeable and the deductions to be made, including,where appropriate, and in so far as it seems necessary for the establish-ment of the tax basis, the total amount of the transactions relative tosuch tax and deductions, and the total amount of the exempted
supplies.
5. Every taxable person shall pay the net amount of the value added
tax when submitting the return. The Member States may, however, fixa different date for the payment of the amount or may demand aninterim payment.
6. Member States may require a taxable person to submit a state-
ment, including the information specified in paragraph 4, and
concerning all transactions carried out the preceding year. This state-
ment must provide all the information necessary for any adjustments.
7. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that
those persons who, in accordance with Article 21 (1) (a) and (b), areconsidered to be liable to pay the tax instead of a taxable person estab-lished in another country or who are jointly and severally liable for the
payment, shall comply with the above obligations relating to declara-
tion and payment.
8. Without prejudice to the provisions to be adopted pursuant to
Article 17 (4), Member States may impose other obligations whichthey deem necessary for the correct levying and collection of the taxand for the prevention of fraud.
9. Member States may release taxable persons:
— from certain obligations,
— from all obligations where those taxable persons carry out only
exempt transactions,
— from the payment of the tax due where the amount is insignificant.
Article 22a
Right of access to invoices stored by electronic means in another
Member State
When a taxable person stores invoices which he issues or receives by
an electronic means guaranteeing on-line access to the data and whenthe place of storage is in a Member State other than that in which he is
established, the competent authorities in the Member State in which he
is established shall have a right, for the purpose of this directive, toaccess by electronic means, download and use these invoices withinthe limits set by the regulations of the Member State where the taxableperson is established and as far as that State requires for controlpurposes.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 28
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Article 23
Obligationsinrespect ofimports
As regards imported goods, Member States shall lay down the detailed
rules for the making of the declarations and payments.
In particular, Member States may provide that the value added tax
payable on importation of goods by taxable persons or persons liableto tax or certain categories of these two need not be paid at the timeof importation, on condition that the tax is mentioned as such in a
return to be submitted under Article 22 (4).
TITLE XIV
SPECIALSCHEMES
Article 24
Specialschemeforsmallundertakings
1. Member States which might encounter difficulties in applying the
normal tax scheme to small undertakings by reason of their activities orstructure shall have the option, under such conditions and within such
limits as they may set but subject to the consultation provided for in
Article 29, of applying simplified procedures suchas flat-rate sch emesfor charging and collecting the tax provided they do not lead to areduction thereof.
2. Until a date to be fixed by the Council acting unanimously on a
proposal from the Commission, but which shall not be later than thaton which the charging of tax on imports and the remission of tax on
exports in trade between the Member States are abolished:
(a) Member States which have made use of the option under Article 14
of the second Council Directive of 11 April 1967 to introduce
exemptions or graduated tax relief may retain them and thearrangements for applying them if they conform with the valueadded tax system.
Those Member States which apply an exemption from tax to
taxable persons whose annual turnover is less than the equivalent
in national currency of 5 000 European units of account at the
conversion rate of the day on which this Directive is adopted,may increase this exemption up to 5 00 European units of account.
Member States which apply graduated tax relief may neither
increase the ceiling of the graduated tax reliefs nor render the
conditions for the granting of it more favourable;
(b) Member States which have not made use of this option may grant
an exemption from tax to taxable persons whose annual turnover isat the maximum equal to the equivalent in national currency of5 000 European units of account at the conversion rate of the day
on which this Directive is adopted; where appropriate, they may
grant graduated tax relief to taxable persons whose annual turnoverexceeds the ceiling fixed by the Member States for the applicationof exemption;
(c) Member States which apply an exemption from tax to taxable
persons whose annual turnover is equal to or higher than the
equivalent in national currency of 5 000 European units of accountat the conversion rate of the day on which this Directive is adopted,may increase it in order to maintain its value in real terms.
3. The concepts of exemption and graduated tax relief shall apply to
the supply of goods and services by small undertakings.
Member States may exclude certain transactions from the arrangements
provided for in paragraph2. Th e provisions of paragraph2 sh all not, inany case, apply to the transactions referred to in Article 4 (3).
4. The turnover which shall serve as a reference for the purposes of
applying the provisions of paragraph 2 shall consist of the amount,exclusive of value added tax, of goods and services supplied as defined1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 29
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in Articles 5 and 6, to the extent that they are taxed, including transac-
tions exempted withrefund of tax previously paid in accordance withArticle 28 (2), and the amount of the transactions exempted pursuant to
Article 15, the amount of real property transactions, the financial trans-
actions referred to in Article 13 B (d), and insurance services, unlessthese transactions are ancillary transactions.
However, disposals of tangible or intangible capital assets of an under-
taking shall not be taken into account for the purposes of calculating
turnover.
5. Taxable persons exempt from tax shall not be entitled to deduct
tax in accordance with the provisions of Article 17, nor to show thetax on their invoices ►
M20 ◄.
6. Taxable persons eligible for exemption from tax may opt either
for the normal value added tax scheme or for the simplified procedures
referred to in paragraph 1. In this case they shall be entitled to any
graduated tax relief which may be laid down by national legislation.
7. Subject to the application of paragraph 1, taxable persons
enjoying graduated relief shall be treated as taxable persons subject tothe normal value added tax scheme.
8. At four-yearly intervals, and for the first time on 1 January 1982,
and after consultation of the Member States, the Commission shall
report to the Council on the application of the provisions of thisArticle. It shall as far as may be necessary, and taking into accountthe need to ensure the long-term convergence of national regulations,attachto th is report proposals for:
(a) improvements to be made to the special scheme for small undertak-
ings;
(b) the adaptation of national systems as regards exemptions and grad-
uated value added tax relief;
(c) the adaptation of the limit of 5 000 European units of account
mentioned in paragraph2.
9. The Council will decide at the appropriate time whether the reali-
zation of the objective referred to in Article 4 of the first Council
Directive of 11 April 1967 requires the introduction of a special
scheme for small undertakings and will, if appropriate, decide on thelimits and common implementing conditions of this scheme. Until theintroduction of such a scheme, Member States may retain their ownspecial schemes which they will apply in accordance with the provi-sions of this Article and of subsequent acts of the Council.
Article 25
Commonflat-rate schemeforfarmers
1. Where the application to farmers of the normal value added tax
scheme, or the simplified scheme provided for in Article 24, wouldgive rise to difficulties, Member States may apply to farmers a flat-rate scheme tending to offset the value added tax charged on purchasesof goods and services made by the flat-rate farmers pursuant to this
Article.
2. For the purposes of this Article the following definitions shall
apply:
— ‘farmer’: a taxable person who carries on his activity in one of the
undertakings defined below,
— ‘agricultural, forestry or fisheries undertakings’: an undertaking
considered to be such by each Member State within the frameworkof the production activities listed in Annex A,
— ‘flat-rate farmer’: a farmer subject to the flat-rate scheme provided
for in paragraphs 3 etseq.,
— ‘agricultural products’: goods produced by an agricultural, forestry
or fisheries undertaking in each Member State as a result of theactivities listed in Annex A,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 30
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— ‘agricultural service’: any service as set out in Annex B supplied by
a farmer using his labour force and/or by means of the equipmentnormally available on the agricultural, forestry or fisheries under-
taking operated by him,
— ‘value added tax charge on inputs’: the amount of the total value
added tax attaching to the goods and services purchased by all agri-cultural, forestry and fisheries undertakings of each Member Statesubject to the flat-rate scheme where such tax would be deductibleunder Article 17 by a farmer subject to the normal value added tax
scheme,
— ‘flat-rate compensation percentages’: the percentages fixed by
Member States in accordance withparagraph3 and applied bythem in the cases specified in paragraph 5 to enable flat-ratefarmers to offset at a fixed rate the value added tax charge oninputs,
— ‘flat-rate compensation’: the amount arrived at by applying the flat-
rate compensation percentage provided for in paragraph3 to th eturnover of the flat-rate farmer in the cases referred to in paragraph5.
3. Member States shall fix the flat-rate compensation percentages,
where necessary, and shall notify the Commission before applying
them. Such percentages shall be based on macro-economic statisticsfor flat-rate farmers alone for the preceding three years. They may notbe used to obtain for flat-rate farmers refunds greater than the valueadded tax charges on inputs. Member States shall have the option ofreducing suchpercentages to a nil rate. Th e percentage may be rounded
up or down to the nearest half point.
Member States may fix varying flat-rate compensation percentages for
forestry, for the different sub-divisions of agriculture and for fisheries.
4. Member States may release flat-rate farmers from the obligations
imposed upon taxable persons by Article 22.
5. The flat-rate percentages provided for in paragraph 3 shall be
applied to the price, exclusive of tax, of the agricultural products andagricultural services supplied by the flat-rate farmers to taxable personsother than a flat-rate farmer. This compensation shall exclude all other
forms of deduction.
6. Member States may provide for the flat-rate compensation to be
paid:
(a) either by the taxable person to whom the goods or services are
supplied. In this case, the taxable person to whom the goods or
services are supplied shall be authorized, following the procedurelaid down by the Member States, to deduct from the value addedtax for which he is liable, the amount of the flat-rate compensationhe has paid to the flat-rate farmers;
(b) or by the public authorities.
7. Member States shall make all necessary provisions to check prop-
erly the payment of the flat-rate compensation to the flat-rate farmers.
8. As regards all supplies of agricultural products and agricultural
services other than those covered by paragraph 5, the flat-rate compen-sation is deemed to be paid by the purchaser or customer.
9. Each Member State may exclude from the flat-rate scheme
certain categories of farmers and farmers for whom the application ofthe normal value added tax scheme, or the simplified scheme providedfor in Article 24 (1), would not give rise to administrative difficulties.
10. Every flat-rate farmer may opt, subject to the rules and condi-
tions to be laid down by eachMember State, for application of th e
normal value added tax scheme or, as the case may be, the simplifiedscheme provided for in Article 24 (1).
11. The Commission shall, before the end of the fifth year following
the entry into force of this Directive, present to the Council new propo-1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 31
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sals concerning the application of the value added tax to transactions in
respect of agricultural products and services.
12. When they take up the option provided for in this Article the
Member States shall fix the uniform basis of assessment of the value
added tax in order to apply the scheme of own resources using the
common method of calculation in Annex C.
Article 26
Specialschemefortravelagents
1. Member States shall apply value added tax to the operations of
travel agents in accordance with the provisions of this Article, where
the travel agents deal with customers in their own name and use thesupplies and services of other taxable persons in the provision of travelfacilities. This Article shall not apply to travel agents who are actingonly as intermediaries and accounting for tax in accordance withArticle 11 A (3) (c). In this Article travel agents include tour operators.
2. All transactions performed by the travel agent in respect of a
journey shall be treated as a single service supplied by the travel agent
to the traveller. It shall be taxable in the Member State in which thetravel agent has established his business or has a fixed establishmentfrom which the travel agent has provided the services. The taxableamount and the price exclusive of tax, within the meaning of Article22 (3) (b), in respect of this service shall be the travel agent's margin,
that is to say, the difference between the total amount to be paid by the
traveller, exclusive of value added tax, and the actual cost to the travelagent of supplies and services provided by other taxable persons wherethese transactions are for the direct benefit of the traveller.
3. If transactions entrusted by the travel agent to other taxable
persons are performed by such persons outside the Community, thetravel agent's service shall be treated as an exempted intermediary
activity under Article 15 (14). Where these transactions are performed
both inside and outside the Community, only that part of the travelagent's service relating to transactions outside the Community may beexempted.
4. Tax charged to the travel agent by other taxable persons on the
transactions described in paragraph 2 which are for the direct benefitof the traveller, shall not be eligible for deduction or refund in any
Member State.
Article 26a
Special arrangements applicable to second-hand goods, works of
art,collectors' itemsandantiques
A.Definitions
For the purposes of this Article, and without prejudice to other
Community provisions:
(a)worksof art shall mean the objects referred to in (a) of Annex I.
However, Member States shall have the option of not considering
as ‘works of art’ the items mentioned in the final three indents in(a) in Annex I;
(b)collectors items shall mean the objects referred to in (b) of Annex
I;
(c)antiquesshall mean the objects referred to in (c) of Annex I;
(d)second-hand goods shall mean tangible movable property that is
suitable for further use as it is or after repair, other than works of
art, collectors' items or antiques and other than precious metals orprecious stones as defined by the Member States;
(e)taxable dealer shall mean a taxable person who, in the course of
his economic activity, purchases or acquires for the purposes of1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 32
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his undertaking, or imports with a view to resale, second-hand
goods and/or works of art, collectors' items or antiques, whetherthat taxable person is acting for himself or on behalf of another
person pursuant to a contract under which commission is payable
on purchase or sale;
(f)organizerofasalebypublicauction shall mean any taxable person
who, in the course of his economic activity, offers goods for saleby public auction with a view to handing them over to the highestbidder;
(g)principal of an organizer of a sale by public auction shall mean
any person who transmits goods to an organizer of a sale by publicauction under a contract under which commission is payable on a
sale subject to the following provisions:
— the organizer of the sale by public auction offers the goods for
sale in his own name but on behalf of his principal,
— the organizer of the sale by public auction hands over the
goods, in his own name but on behalf of his principal, to thehighest bidder at the public auction.
B.Specialarrangementsfortaxabledealers
1. In respect of supplies of second-hand goods, works of art, collec-
tors' items and antiques effected by taxable dealers, Member States
shall apply special arrangements for taxing the profit margin made by
the taxable dealer, in accordance with the following provisions.
2. The supplies of goods referred to in paragraph 1 shall be supplies,
by a taxable dealer, of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors'
items or antiques supplied to him within the Community:
— by a non-taxable person,
or
— by another taxable person, in so far as the supply of goods by that
other taxable person is exempt in accordance with Article 13 (B)(c),
or
— by another taxable person in so far as the supply of goods by that
other taxable person qualifies for the exemption provided for inArticle 24 and involves capital assets,
or
— by another taxable dealer, in so far as the supply of goods by that
other taxable dealer was subject to value added tax in accordancewithth ese special arrangements.
3. The taxable amount of the supplies of goods referred to in para-
graph 2 shall be the profit margin made by the taxable dealer, less the
amount of value added tax relating to the profit margin. That profitmargin shall be equal to the difference between the selling pricecharged by the taxable dealer for the goods and the purchase price.
For the purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall
apply:
—sellingprice shall mean everything which constitutes the considera-
tion, which has been, or is to be, obtained by the taxable dealerfrom the purchaser or a third party, including subsidies directlylinked to that transaction, taxes, duties, levies and charges and inci-dental expenses suchas commission, packaging, transport andinsurance costs charged by the taxable dealer to the purchaser but
excluding the amounts referred to in Article 11 (A) (3),
—purchaseprice shall mean everything which constitutes the consid-
eration defined in the first indent, obtained, or to be obtained, fromthe taxable dealer by his supplier.
4. Member States shall entitle taxable dealers to opt for application
of the special arrangements to supplies of:
(a) works of art, collectors' items or antiques which they have imported
themselves;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 33
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(b) works of art supplied to them by their creators or their successors
in title;
(c) works of art supplied to them by a taxable person other than a
taxable dealer where the supply by that other taxable person wassubject to the reduced rate pursuant to Article 12 (3) (c).
Member States shall determine the detailed rules for exercising this
option which shall in any event cover a period at least equal to twocalendar years.
If the option is taken up, the taxable amount shall be determined in
accordance withparagraph3. For supplies of works of art, collectors'items or antiques which the taxable dealer has imported himself, thepurchase price to be taken into account in calculating the margin shallbe equal to the taxable amount on importation, determined in accor-dance withArticle 11 (B), plus th e value added tax due or paid on
importation.
5. Where they are effected in the conditions laid down in Article 15,
the supplies of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' item orantiques subject to the special arrangements for taxing the margin shall
be exempt.
6. Taxable persons shall not be entitled to deduct from the tax for
which they are liable the value added tax due or paid in respect ofgoods which have been, or are to be, supplied to them by a taxabledealer, in so far as the supply of those goods by the taxable dealer is
subject to the special arrangements for taxing the margin.
7. In so far as goods are used for the purpose of supplies by him
subject to the special arrangements for taxing the margin, the taxabledealer shall not be entitled to deduct from the tax for which he is
liable:
(a) the value added tax due or paid in respect of works af (SIC! of) art,
collectors' items or antiques which he has imported himself;
(b) the value added tax due or paid in respect of works of art which
have been, or are to be, supplied to him by their creators or theirsuccessors in title;
(c) the value added tax due or paid in respect of works of art which
have been, or are to be, supplied to him by a taxable person otherthan a taxable dealer.
8. Where he is led to apply both the normal arrangements for value
added tax and the special arrangements for taxing the margin, thetaxable dealer must follow separately in his accounts the transactionsfalling under eachof th ese arrangements, according to rules laid downby the Member States,
9. The taxable dealer may not indicate separately on the invoices
which he issues, ►
M20 ◄tax relating to supplies of
goods which he makes subject to the special arrangements for taxingthe margin.
10. In order to simplify the procedure for charging the tax and
subject to the consultation provided for in Article 29, Member Statesmay provide that, for certain transactions or for certain categories oftaxable dealers, the taxable amount of supplies of goods subject to thespecial arrangements for taxing the margin shall be determined for each
tax period during which the taxable dealer must submit the return
referred to in Article 22 (4).
In that event, the taxable amount for supplies of goods to which the
same rate of value added tax is applied shall be the total margin made
by the taxable dealer less the amount of value added tax relating to that
margin.
The total margin shall be equal to the difference between:
— the total amount of supplies of goods subject to the special arrange-
ments for taxing the margin effected by the taxable dealer duringthe period; that amount shall be equal to the total selling pricesdetermined in accordance withparagraph3,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 34
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and
— the total amount of purchases of goods as referred to in paragraph 2
effected, during that period, by the taxable dealer; that amount shall
be equal to the total purchase prices determined in accordance withparagraph3.
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the
taxable persons concerned do not enjoy unjustfied (SIC! unjustified)
advantages or sustain unjustified loss.
11. The taxable dealer may apply the normal value added tax
arrangements to any supply covered by the special arrangements
pursuant to paragraph2 or 4.
Where the taxable dealer applies the normal value added tax arrange-
ments to:
(a) the supply of a work of art, collectors' item or antique which he has
imported himself, he shall be entitled to deduct from his tax liabi-lity the value added tax due or paid on the import of those goods;
(b) the supply of a work of art supplied to him by its creator or his
successors in title, he shall be entitled to deduct from his tax liabi-lity the value added tax due or paid for the work of art supplied to
him;
(c) the supply of a work of art supplied to him by a taxable person
other than a taxable dealer, he shall be entitled to deduct from his
tax liability the value added tax due or paid for the work of artsupplied to him.
This right to deduct shall arise at the time when the tax due for the
supply in respect of which the taxable dealer opts for application of
the normal value added tax arrangements become chargeable.
C.Specialarrangementsforsalesbypublicauction
1. By way of derogation from B, Member States may determine, in
accordance with the following provisions, the taxable amount ofsupplies of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items orantiques effected by an organizer of sales by public auction, acting in
his own name, pursuant to a contract under which commission is
payable on the sale of those goods by public auction, on behalf of:
— a non-taxable person,
or
— another taxable person, in so far as the supply of goods, within the
meaning of Article 5 (4) (c), by that other taxable person is exemptin accordance withArticle 13 (B) (c),
or
— another taxable person, in so far as the supply of goods, within the
meaning of Article 5 (4) (c), by that other taxable person qualifiesfor the exemption provided for in Article 24 and involves capitalassets,
or
— a taxable dealer, in so far as the supply of goods, within the
meaning of Article 5 (4) (c), by that other taxable dealer, is subjectto tax in accordance with the special arrangements for taxing the
margin provided for in B.
2. The taxable amount of each supply of goods referred to in para-
graph 1 shall be the total amount invoiced in accordance withparagraph 4 to the purchaser by the organizer of the sale by public
auction, less:
— the net amount paid or to be paid by the organizer of the sale by
public auction to his principal, determined in accordance with para-
graph3,
and
— the amount of the tax due by the organizer of the sale by public
auction in respect of his supply.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 35
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3. The net amount paid or to be paid by the organizer of the sale by
public auction to his principal shall be equal to the difference between:
— the price of the goods at public auction,
and
— the amount of the commission obtained or to be obtained by the
organizer of the sale by public auction from his principal, under
the contract whereby commission is payable on the sale.
4. The organizer of the sale by public auction must issue to the
purchaser an invoice ►M20 ◄itemizing:
— the auction price of the goods,
— taxes, dues, levies and charges,— incidental expenses suchas commission, packing, transport and
insurance costs charged by the organizer to the purchaser of the
goods.
That invoice must not indicate any value added tax separately.
5. The organizer of the sale by public auction to whom the goods
were transmitted under a contract whereby commission is payable ona public auction sale must issue a statement to his principal.
That statement must itemize the amount of the transaction, i.e. the
auction price of the goods less the amount of the commission obtained
or to be obtained from the principal.
A statement so drawn up shall serve as the invoice which the principal,
where he is a taxable person, must issue to the organizer of the sale by
public auction in accordance withArticle 22 (3).
6. Organizers of sales by public auction who supply goods under the
conditions laid down in paragraph1 must indicate in th eir accounts, in
suspense accounts:
— the amounts obtained or to be obtained from the purchaser of the
goods,
— the amount reimbursed or to be reimbursed to the vendor of the
goods.
These amounts must be duly substantiated.7. The supply of goods to a taxable person who is an organizer of
sales by public auction shall be regarded as being effected when thesale of those goods by public auction is itself effected.
D.Transitional arrangements for the taxation of trade between
MemberStates
During the period referred to in Article 28l, Member States shall apply
the following provisions:
(a) supplies of new means of transport, within the meaning of Article
28a (2), effected within the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A)shall be excluded from the special arrangements provided for in Band C;
(b) by way of derogation from Article 28a (1) (a), intra-Community
acquisitions of second-hand goods, works of art, collectors' items
or antiques shall not be subject to value added tax where the
vendor is a taxable dealer acting as suchand th e goods acquiredhave been subject to tax in the Member State of departure of thedispatchor transport, in accordance withth e special arrangementsfor taxing the margin provided for in B, or where the vendor is anorganizer of sales by public auction acting as suchand th e goods
acquired have been subject to tax in the Member State of departure
of the dispatch or transport, in accordance with the special arrange-ments provided for in C;
(c) Articles 28b (B) and 28c (A) (a), (c) and (d) shall not apply to
supplies of goods subject to value added tax in accordance witheither of the special arrangements laid down in B and C.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 36
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Article 26b
Specialschemeforinvestmentgold
A.Definition
For the purposes of this Directive, and without prejudice to other
Community provisions: ‘investment gold’ shall mean:
(i) gold, in the form of a bar or a wafer of weights accepted by the
bullion markets, of a purity equal to or greater than 995 thou-sandths, whether or not represented by securities. Member Statesmay exclude from the scheme small bars or wafers of a weight of1 g or less;
(ii) gold coins which:
— are of a purity equal to or greater than 900 thousandths,
— are minted after 1800,— are or have been legal tender in the country of origin, and— are normally sold at a price which does not exceed the open
market value of the gold contained in the coins by more than80 %.
Such coins are not, for the purpose of this Directive, considered to
be sold for numismatic interest.
Each Member State shall inform the Commission before 1 July
each year, starting in 1999, of the coins meeting these criteria
which are traded in that Member State. The Commission shallpublish a comprehensive list of these coins in the ‘C’ series of theOfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities before 1 December
each year. Coins included in the published list shall be deemed to
fulfil these criteria for the whole year for which the list is
published.
B.Specialarrangementsapplicabletoinvestmentgoldtransactions
Member States shall exempt from value added tax the supply, intra-
Community acquisition and importation of investment gold, including
investment gold represented by certificates for allocated or unallocated
gold or traded on gold accounts and including, in particular, gold loansand swaps, involving a right of ownership or claim in respect of invest-ment gold, as well as transactions concerning investment goldinvolving futures and forward contracts leading to a transfer of right
of ownership or claim in respect of investment gold.
Member States shall also exempt services of agents who act in the
name and for the account of another when they intervene in the supplyof investment gold for their principal.
C.Optiontotax
Member States shall allow taxable persons who produce investment
gold or transform any gold into investment gold as defined in A a rightof option for taxation of supplies of investment gold to another taxableperson which would otherwise be exempt under B.
Member States may allow taxable persons, who in their trade normally
supply gold for industrial purposes, a right of option for taxation of
supplies of investment gold as defined in A(i) to another taxableperson, which would otherwise be exempt under B. Member Statesmay restrict the scope of this option.
Where the supplier has exercised a right of option for taxation pursuant
to the first or second paragraph, Member States shall allow a right of
option for taxation for the agent in respect of the services mentioned in
the second paragraph of B.
Member States shall specify the details of the use of these options, and
shall inform the Commission of the rules of application for the exerciseof these options in that Member State.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 37
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D.Rightofdeduction
1. Taxable persons shall be entitled to deduct
(a) tax due or paid in respect of investment gold supplied to them
by a person who has exercised the right of option under C orsupplied to them pursuant to the procedure laid down in G;
(b) tax due or paid in respect of supply to them, or intra-Community
acquisition or importation by them, of gold other than invest-ment gold which is subsequently transformed by them or ontheir behalf into investment gold;
(c) tax due or paid in respect of services supplied to them consisting
of change of form, weight or purity of gold including investment
gold,
if their subsequent supply of this gold is exempt under this Article.
2. Taxable persons who produce investment gold or transform any gold
into investment gold, shall be entitled to deduct tax due or paid bythem in respect of supplies, or intra-Community acquisition orimportation of goods or services linked to the production or transfor-
mation of that gold as if their subsequent supply of the gold
exempted under this Article were taxable.
E.Specialobligationsfortradersininvestmentgold
Member States shall, as a minimum, ensure that traders in investment
gold keep account of all substantial transactions in investment gold andkeep the documentation to allow identification of the customer in suchtransactions.
Traders shall keep this information for a period of at least five years.Member States may accept equivalent obligations under measures
adopted pursuant to other Community legislation, such as CouncilDirective 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991 on prevention of the use of thefinancial system for the purpose of money laundering(
1), to meet the
requirements of the first paragraph.
Member States may lay down stricter obligations, in particular on
special record keeping or special accounting requirements.
F.Reversechargeprocedure
By way of derogation from Article 21(1)(a), as amended by Article
28g, in the case of supplies of gold material or semi-manufactured
products of a purity of 325 thousandths or greater, or supplies of
investment gold where an option referred to in C of this Article hasbeen exercised, Member States may designate the purchaser as theperson liable to pay the tax, according to the procedures and conditionswhich they shall lay down. When they exercise this option, Member
States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the person
designated as liable for the tax due fulfils the obligations to submit astatement and to pay the tax in accordance with Article 22.
G.Procedurefortransactionsonaregulatedgoldbullionmarket
1. A Member State may, subject to consultation provided for under
Article 29, disapply the exemption for investment gold providedfor by this special scheme in respect of specific transactions, otherthan intra-Community supplies or exports, concerning investmentgold taking place in that Member State:
(a) between taxable persons who are members of a bullion market
regulated by the Member State concerned, and1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 38
(1) OJ L 166, 28.6.1991, p. 77.
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(b) where the transaction is between a member of a bullion market
regulated by the Member State concerned and another taxableperson who is not a member of that market.
Under these circumstances, these transactions shall be taxable and
the following shall apply.
2. (a) For transactions under 1(a), for the purpose of simplification, the
Member State shall authorise suspension of the tax to becollected as well as dispense withth e recording requirementsof value added tax.
(b) For transactions under 1(b), the reverse charge procedure under
F shall be applicable. Where a non-member of the bullionmarket would not, other than for these transactions, be liablefor registration for VAT in the relevant Member State, the
member shall fulfil the fiscal obligations on behalf of the non-
member, according to the provisions of that Member State.
Article 26c
Special scheme for non-established taxable persons supplying elec-
tronicservices tonon-taxablepersons
A.Definitions
For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall apply
without prejudice to other Community provisions:
(a) ‘non-established taxable person’ means a taxable person who has
neither established his business nor has a fixed establishmentwithin the territory of the Community and who is not otherwise
required to be identified for tax purposes under Article 22;
(b) ‘electronic services’ and ‘electronically supplied services’ means
those services referred to in the last indent of Article 9(2)(e);
(c) ‘Member State of identification’ means the Member State which
the non-established taxable person chooses to contact to statewhen his activity as a taxable person within the territory of theCommunity commences in accordance with the provisions of this
Article;
(d) ‘Member State of consumption’ means the Member State in which
the supply of the electronic services is deemed to take placeaccording to Article 9(2)(f);
(e) ‘value added tax return’ means the statement containing the infor-
mation necessary to establish the amount of tax that has becomechargeable in each Member State.
B.Specialschemeforelectronicallysuppliedservices
1. Member States shall permit a non-established taxable person
supplying electronic services to a non-taxable person who is establishedor has his permanent address or usually resides in a Member State touse a special scheme in accordance with the following provisions. Thespecial scheme shall apply to all those supplies within the Community.
2. The non-established taxable person shall state to the Member
State of identification when his activity as a taxable personcommences, ceases or changes to the extent that he no longer qualifiesfor the special scheme. Such a statement shall be made electronically.
The information from the non-established taxable person to the
Member State of identification when his taxable activities commence
shall contain the following details for the identification: name, postal
address, electronic addresses, including websites, national tax number,if any, and a statement that the person is not identified for value addedtax purposes within the Community. The non-established taxableperson shall notify the Member State of identification of any changesin the submitted information.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 39
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3. The Member State of identification shall identify the non-estab-
lished taxable person by means of an individual number. Based on theinformation used for this identification, Member States of consumption
may keep their own identification systems.
The Member State of identification shall notify the non-established
taxable person by electronic means of the identification number allo-
cated to him.
4. The Member State of identification shall exclude the non-estab-
lished taxable person from the identification register if:
(a) he notifies that he no longer supplies electronic services, or
(b) it otherwise can be assumed that his taxable activities have ended,
or
(c) he no longer fulfils the requirements necessary to be allowed to use
the special scheme, or
(d) he persistently fails to comply with the rules concerning the special
scheme.
5. The non-established taxable person shall submit by electronic
means to the Member State of identification a value added tax returnfor each calendar quarter whether or not electronic services have beensupplied. The return shall be submitted within 20 days following theend of the reporting period to which the return refers.
The value added tax return shall set out the identification number and,
for each Member State of consumption where tax has become due, the
total value, less value added tax, of supplies of electronic services for
the reporting period and total amount of the corresponding tax. Theapplicable tax rates and the total tax due shall also be indicated.
6. The value added tax return shall be made in euro. Member States
which have not adopted the euro may require the tax return to be madein their national currencies. If the supplies have been made in othercurrencies, the exchange rate valid for the last date of the reportingperiod shall be used when completing the value added tax return. The
exchange shall be done following the exchange rates published by the
European Central Bank for that day, or, if there is no publication onthat day, on the next day of publication.
7. The non-established taxable person shall pay the value added tax
when submitting the return. Payment shall be made to a bank accountdenominated in euro, designated by the Member State of identification.Member States which have not adopted the euro may require thepayment to be made to a bank account denominated in their own
currency.
8. Notwithstanding Article 1(1) of Directive 86/560/EEC, the non-
established taxable person making use of this special scheme shall,
instead of making deductions under Article 17(2) of this Directive, begranted a refund according to Directive 86/560/EEC. Articles 2(2), 2(3)and 4(2) of Directive 86/560/EEC shall not apply to the refund relatedto electronic supplies covered by this special scheme.
9. The non-established taxable person shall keep records of the
transactions covered by this special scheme in sufficient detail to
enable the tax administration of the Member State of consumption to
determine that the value added tax return referred to in paragraph 5 iscorrect. These records should be made available electronically onrequest to the Member State of identification and to the Member Stateof consumption. These records shall be maintained for a period of 10years from the end of the year when the transaction was carried out.
10. Article 21(2)(b) shall not apply to a non-established taxable
person who has opted for this special scheme.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 40
▼B
TlTLE XV
SIMPLIFICATIONPROCEDURES
Article 27
1. The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the
Commission, may authorize any Member State to introduce specialmeasures for derogation from the provisions of this Directive, in orderto simplify the procedure for charging the tax or to prevent certaintypes of tax evasion or avoidance. Measures intended to simplify theprocedure for charging the tax, except to a negligible extent, may not
affect the amount of tax due at the final consumption stage.
2. A Member State wishing to introduce the measures referred to in
paragraph 1 shall inform the Commission of them and shall provide the
Commission withall relevant information.
3. The Commission shall inform the other Member States of the
proposed measures within one month.
4. The Council's decision shall be deemed to have been adopted if,
within two months of the other Member States being informed as laiddown in the previous paragraph, neither the Commission nor anyMember State has requested that the matter be raised by the Council.
5. Those Member States which apply on 1 January 1977 special
measures of the type referred to in paragraph 1 above may retainthem providing they notify the Commission of them before 1 January1978 and providing that where such derogations are designed tosimplify the procedure for charging tax they conform with the require-
ment laid down in paragraph1 above.
TITLE XVI
TRANSITIONALPROVISIONS
Article 28
1. Any provisions brought into force by the Member States under
the provisions of the first four indents of Article 17 of the secondCouncil Directive of 11 April 1967 shall cease to apply, in eachMember State, as from the respective dates on which the provisions
referred to in the second paragraph of Article 1 of this Directive come
into force.
1a. Until a date which may not be later than 30 June 1999, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland may, forimports of works of art, collectors' items or antiques which qualified
for an exemption on 1 January 1993, apply Article 11 (B) (6) in such
a way that the value added tax due on importation is, in any event,equal to 2,5% of the amount determined in accordance with Article11 (B) (1) to (4).
2. Notwithstanding Article 12 (3), the following provisions shall
apply during the transitional period referred to in Article 281.
(a) Exemptions with refund of the tax paid at the preceding stage and
reduced rates lower than the minimum rate laid down in Article 12(3) in respect of the reduced rates, which were in force on 1January 1991 and which are in accordance with Community law,
and satisfy the conditions stated in the last indent of Article 17 of
the second Council Directive of 11 April 1967, may be maintained.
Member States shall adopt the measures necessary to ensure the
determination of own resources relating to these operations.
In the event that the provisions of this paragraph create for Ireland
distortions of competition in the supply of energy products forheating and lighting, Ireland may, on specific request, be author-ized by the Commission to apply a reduced rate to such supplies,in accordance with Article 12 (3). In that case, Ireland shall submit1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 41
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its request to the Commission together with all necessary informa-
tion. If the Commission has not taken a decision within threemonths of receiving the request, Ireland shall be deemed to be
authorized to apply the proposed reduced rates.
(b) Member States which, at 1 January 1991 in accordance with
Community law, applied exemptions withrefund of tax paid at th epreceding stage, or reduced rates lower than the minimum laid
down in Article 12 (3) in respect of the reduced rates, to goods
and services other than those specified in Annex H, may apply thereduced rate or one of the two reduced rates provided for in Article12 (3) to any suchsupplies.
(c) Member States which under the terms of Article 12 (3) will be
obliged to increase their standard rate as applied at 1 January1991 by more than 2 %, may apply a reduced rate lower than theminimum laid down in Article 12 (3) in respect of the reduced rateto supplies of categories of goods and services specified in AnnexH. Furthermore, those Member States may apply such a rate to
restaurant services, children's clothing, children's footwear and
housing. Member States may not introduce exemptions with refundof the tax at the preceding stage on the bais (SIC! basis) of thisparagraph.
(d) Member States which at 1 January 1991 applied a reduced rate to
restaurant services, children's clothing, children's footwear andh ousing, may continue to apply sucha rate to suchsupplies.
(e) Member States which at 1 January 1991 applied a reduced rate to
supplies of goods and services other than those specified in Annex
H may apply the reduced rate or one of the two reduced rates
provided for in Article 12 (3) to such supplies, provided that therate is not lower than 12 %.
This provision may not apply to supplies of second-hand goods,
works of art, collectors' items or antiques subject to value added
tax in accordance withone of th e special arrangements providedfor an Article 26a (B) and (C).
(f) The Hellenic Republic may apply VAT rates up to 30 % lower
than the corresponding rates applied in mainland Greece in thedepartments of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, the Dodecanese and theCyclades, and on the following islands in the Aegean: Thasos,Northern Sporades, Samothrace and Skiros.
(g) On the basis of a report from the Commission, the Council shall,
before 31 December 1994, reexamine the provisions of subpara-graphs (a) to (f) above in relation to the proper functioning of theinternal market in particular. In the event of significant distortionsof competition arising, the Council, acting unanimously on a
proposal from the Commission, shall adopt appropriate measures.
(h) Member States which, on 1 January 1993, were availing themselves
of the option provided for in Article 5 (5) (a) as in force on thatdate, may apply to supplies under a contract to make up work the
rate applicable to the goods after making up.
For the purposes of applying this provision, supplies under a
contract to make up work shall be deemed to be delivery by acontractor to his customer of movable property made or assembled
by the contractor from materials or objects entrusted to him by the
customer for this purpose, whether or not the contractor hasprovided any part of the materials used.
(i) Member States may apply a reduced rate to supplies of live plants
(including bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental
foliage) and wood for use as firewood.
j) the Republic of Austria may apply one of the two reduced rates
provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 12(3)(a) to the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 42
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letting of immovable property for residential use, provided that the
rate is not lower than 10 %.
k) the Portuguese Republic may apply one of the two reduced rates
provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 12(3)(a) to restau-rant services, provided that the rate is not lower than 12 %.
3. During the transitional period referred to in paragraph 4, Member
States may:
(a) continue to subject to tax the transactions exempt under Article 13
or 15 set out in Annex E to this Directive;
(b) continue to exempt the activities set out in Annex F under condi-
tions existing in the Member State concerned;
(c) grant to taxable persons the option for taxation of exempt transac-
tions under the conditions set out in Annex G;
(d) continue to apply provisions derogating from the principle of
immediate deduction laid down in the first paragraph of Article 18
(2);
(e) continue to apply measures derogating from the provisions of Arti-
cles►
M8 ◄6 (4) and 11 A (3) (c);
(f) provide that for supplies of buildings and building land purchased
for the purpose of resale by a taxable person for whom tax on the
purchase was not deductible, the taxable amount shall be the differ-ence between the selling price and the purchase price;
(g) by way of derogation from Articles 17 (3) and 26 (3), continue to
exempt without repayment of input tax the services of travel agents
referred to in Article 26 (3). This derogation shall also apply to
travel agents acting in the name and on account of the traveller.
3a. Pending a decision by the Council, which, under Article 3 of
Directive 89/465/EEC(
1), is to act on the abolition of the transitional
derogations provided for in paragraph 3, Spain shall be authorized toexempt the transactions referred to in point 2 of Annex F in respectof services rendered by authors and the transactions referred to in
points 23 and 25 of Annex F.
4. The transitional period shall last initially for five years as from 1
January 1978. At the latest six months before the end of this period,and subsequently as necessary, the Council shall review the situationwith regard to the derogations set out in paragraph 3 on the basis of areport from the Commission and shall unanimously determine on a
proposal from the Commission, whether any or all of these derogations
shall be abolished.
5. At the end of the transitional period passenger transport shall be
taxed in the country of departure for that part of the journey takingplace within the Community according to the detailed rules of proce-dure to be laid down by the Council acting unanimously on aproposal from the Commission.
6. The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the
Commission, may authorise any Member State to apply for a maximum
period of ►
M22four years between 1 January 2000 and 31 December
2003◄the reduced rates provided for in the third subparagraph of
Article 12(3)(a) to services listed in as maximum of two of the cate-gories set out in Annex K. In exceptional cases a Member State maybe authorised to apply the reduced rate to services in three of the
abovementioned categories.
The services concerned must satisfy the following requirements:
(a) they must be labour-intensive;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 43
(1) JO No L 226, 3. 8. 1989, p. 21.▼B
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(b) they must be largely provided direct to final consumers;
(c) they must be mainly local and not likely to create distortions of
competition;
(d) there must be a close link between the lower prices resulting from
the rate reduction and the foreseeable increase in demand and
employment.
The application of a reduced rate must not prejudice the smooth func-
tioning of the internal market.
Any Member State wishing to introduce the measure provided for in
the first subparagraph shall inform the Commission before 1 November
1999 and shall provide it before that date with all relevant particulars,
and in particular the following:
(a) scope of the measure and detailed description of the services
concerned;
(b) particulars showing that the conditions laid down in the second and
third subparagraphs have been met;
(c) particulars showing the budgetary cost of the measure envisaged.
Those Member States authorised to apply the reduced rate referred to
in the first subparagraph shall, before 1 October 2002, draw up a
detailed report containing an overall assessment of the measure's effec-tiveness in terms notably of job creation and efficiency.
Before 31 December 2002 the Commission shall forward a global
evaluation report to the Council and Parliament accompanied, if neces-sary, by a proposal for appropriate measures for a final decision on theVAT rate applicable to labour-intensive services.
TITLE XVIa
TRANSITIONALARRANGEMENTSFOR THE TAXATIONOF TRADE
BETWEENMEMBERSTATES
Article 28a
Scope
1. The following shall also be subject to value added tax:
a) intra-Community acquisitions of goods for consideration within the
territory of the country by a taxable person acting as such or by anon-taxable legal person where the vendor is a taxable personacting as such who is not eligible for the tax exemption providedfor in Article 24 and who is not covered by the arrangements laiddown in the second sentence of Article 8 (1) (a) or in Article 28b
(B) (1).
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, intra-Commu-
nity acquisitions of goods made under ther (SIC! the) conditionsset out in paragraph1a by a taxable person or non-taxable legalperson shall not be subject to value added tax.
Member States shall grant taxable persons and non-taxable legal
persons eligible under the second subparagraph the right to opt forthe general scheme laid down in the first subparagraph. MemberStates shall determine the detailed rules for the exercise of that
option, which shall in any case apply for two calendar years;
(b) intra-Community acquisitions of new means of transport effected
for consideration within the country by taxable persons or non-taxable legal persons who qualify for the derogation provided forin the second subparagraph of (a) or by any other non-taxableperson.
(c) the intra-Community acquisition of goods which are subject to
excise duties effected for consideration within the territory of the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 44
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country by a taxable person or a non-taxable legal person who
qualifies for the derogation referred to in the second subparagraphof point (a), and for which the excise duties become chargeable
within the territory of the country pursuant to Directive 92/12/
EEC(
1).
1a. The following shall benefit from the derogation set out in the
second subparagraphof paragraph1 (a):
(a) intra-Community acquisitions of goods whose supply within the
territory of the country would be exempt pursuant to Article 15(4) to (10);
(b) intra-Community acquisitions of goods other than those at (a),
made:
— by a taxable person for the purpose of his agricultural, forestry
or fisheries undertaking, subject to the flat-rate scheme set outin Article 25, by a taxable person who carries out only suppliesof goods or services in respect of which value added tax is notdeductible, or by a non-taxable legal person,
— for a total amount not exceeding, during the current calendar
year, a threshold which the Member States shall determine butwhich may not be less than the equivalent in national currencyof ECU 10 000,
and
— provided that the total amount of intra-Community acquisitions
of goods did not, during the previous calendar year, exceed thethreshold referred to in the second indent.
The threshold which serves as the reference for the application
of the above shall consist of the total amount, exclusive of
value added tax due or paid in the Member State from whichthe goods are dispatched or transported, of intra-Communityacquisitions of goods other than new means of transport andother than goods subject to excise duty.
2. For the purposes of this Title:
(a) the following shall be considered as ‘means of transport’: vessels
exceeding 7,5 metres in length, aircraft the take-off weight ofwhich exceeds 1550 kilograms and motorized land vehicles thecapacity of which exceeds 48 cubic centimetres or the power of
which exceeds 7,2 kilowatts, intended for the transport of persons
or goods, except for the vessels and aircraft referred to in Article15 (5) and (6);
(b) the means of transport referred to in (a) shall not be considered to
be ‘new’ where both of the following conditions are simultaneouslyfulfilled:
— they were supplied more than three months after the date of
first entry into service. However, this period shall be increasedto six months for the motorized land vehicles defined in (a),
— they have travelled more than 6 000 kilometres in the case of
land vehicles, sailed for more than 100 hours in the case ofvessels, or flown for more than 40 hours in the case of aircraft.
Member States shall lay down the conditions under which the above
facts can be regarded as established.
3. ‘Intra-Community acquisition of goods’ shall mean acquisition of
the right to dispose as owner of movable tangible property dispatchedor transported to the person acquiring the goods by or on behalf of thevendor or the person acquiring the goods to a Member State other thanthat from which the goods are dispatched or transported.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 45
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Where goods acquired by a non-taxable legal person are dispatched or
transported from a third territory and imported by that non-taxablelegal person into a Member State other than the Member State of
arrival of the goods dispatched or transported, the goods shall be
deemed to have been dispatched or transported from the Member Stateof import. That Member State shall grant the importer as defined in►
M18Article 21(4) ◄a refund of the value added tax paid in
connection with the importation of the goods in so far as the importer
establishes that his acquisition was subject to value added tax in the
Member State of arrival of the goods dispatched or transported.
4. Any person who from time to time supplies a new means of
transport under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) shall alsobe regarded as a taxable person.
The Member State within the territory of which the supply is effected
shall grant the taxable person the right of deduction on the basis of the
following provisions:
— the right of deduction shall arise and may be exercised only at the
time of the supply,
— the taxable person shall be authorized to deduct the value added tax
included in the purchase price or paid on the importation or intra-Community acquisition of the means of transport, up to an amountnot exceeding the tax for which he would be liable if the supplywere not exempt.
Member States shall lay down detailed rules for the implementation of
these provisions.
5.►
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effected for consideration: ◄
(b) the transfer by a taxable person of goods from his undertaking to
another Member State.
The following shall be regarded as having been transferred to
another Member State: any tangible property dispatched or trans-ported by or on behalf of the taxable person out of the territory
defined in Article 3 but within the Community for the purposes of
his undertaking, other than for the purposes of one of the followingtransactions:
— the supply of the goods in question by the taxable person within
the territory of the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or
transport under the conditions laid down in the second sentenceof Article 8 (1) (a) and in Article 28b (B) (1),
— the supply of the goods in question by the taxable person under
the conditions laid down in Article 8 (1) (c),
— the supply of the goods in question by the taxable person within
the territory of the country under the conditions laid down inArticle 15 or in Article 28c (A),
— the supply of a service performed for the taxable person and
involving work on the goods in question physically carried outin the Member State in which the dispatch or transport of the
goods ends, provided that the goods, after being worked upon,
are re-dispatched to that taxable person in the Member Statefrom which they had initially been dispatched or transported,
— temporary use of the goods in question within the territory of
the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or transport of the
goods for the purposes of the supply of services by the taxableperson established within the territory of the Member State ofdeparture of the dispatch or transport of the goods,
— temporary use of the goods in question, for a period not
exceeding 24 months, within the territory of another MemberState in which the import of the same goods from a third1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 46
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country witha view to temporary use would be eligible for th e
arrangements for temporary importation withfull exemptionfrom import duties.
However, when one of the conditions to which the benefit of the
above is subordinated is no longer met, the goods shall be consid-ered as having been transferred to a destination in another MemberState. In this case, the transfer is carried out at the moment that theconditions is no longer met.
6. The intra-Community acquisition of goods for consideration shall
include the use by a taxable person for the purposes of his undertakingof goods dispatched or transported by or on behalf of that taxable
person from another Member State within the territory of which the
goods were produced, extracted, processed, purchased, acquired asdefined in paragraph 1 or imported by the taxable person within theframework of his undertaking into that other Member State.
The following shall also be deemed to be an intra-Community acquisi-
tion of goods effected for consideration: the appropriation of goods bythe forces of a State party to the North Atlantic Treaty, for their use orfor the use of the civilian staff accompanying them, which they have
not acquired subject to the general rules governing taxation on the
domestic market of one of the Member States, when the importationof these goods could not benefit from the exemption set out in Article14 (1) (g).
7. Member States shall take measures to ensure that transactions
which would have been classed as ‘supplies of goods’ as defined inparagraph 5 or Article 5 if they had been carried out within the terri-tory of the country by a taxable person acting as such are classed as
‘intra-Community acquisitions of goods’.
Article 28b
Place oftransactions
A.Placeoftheintra-Communityacquisitionofgoods
1. The place of the intra-Community acquisition of goods shall be
deemed to be the place where the goods are at the time when dispatchor transport to the person acquiring them ends.
2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the place of the intra-Commu-
nity acquisition of goods referred to in Article 28a (1) (a) shall,however, be deemed to be within the territory of the Member Statewhich issued the value added tax identification number under which
the person acquiring the goods made the acquisition, unless the person
acquiring the goods establishes that that acquisition has been subject totax in accordance withparagraph1.
If, however, the acquisition is subject to tax in accordance with para-
graph 1 in the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or transport ofthe goods after having been subject to tax in accordance with the firstsubparagraph, the taxable amount shall be reduced accordingly in theMember State which issued the value added tax identification number
under which the person acquiring the goods made the acquisition.
For the purposes of applying the first subparagraph, the intra-Commu-
nity acquisition of goods shall be deemed to have been subject to tax in
accordance with paragraph 1 when the following conditions have beenmet:
— the acquirer establishes that he has effected this intra-Community
acquisition for the needs of a subsequent supply effected in theMember State referred to in paragraph 1 and for which the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 47
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consignee has been designated as the person liable for the tax due
in accordance withArticle 28c (E) (3),
— the obligations for declaration set out in the last subparagraph of
Article 22 (6) (b) have been satisfied by the acquirer.
B.Placeofthesupplyofgoods
1. By way of derogation from Article 8 (1) (a) and (2), the place of
the supply of goods dispatched or transported by or on behalf of the
supplier from a Member State other than that of arrival of the dispatchor transport shall be deemed to be the place where the goods are whendispatch or transport to the purchaser ends, where the following condi-tions are fulfilled:
— the supply of goods is effected for a taxable person eligible for the
derogation provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 28a(1) (a), for a non-taxable legal person who is eligible for the samederogation or for any other non-taxable person,
— the supply is of goods other than new means of transport and other
than goods supplied after assembly or installation, with or without a
trial run, by or on behalf of the supplier.
Where the goods thus supplied are dispatched or transported from a
third territory and imported by the supplier into a Member State otherthan the Member State of arrival of the goods dispatched or transported
to the purchaser, they shall be regarded as having been dispatched or
transported from the Member State of import.
2. However, where the supply is of goods other than products
subject to excise duty, paragraph1 sh all not apply to supplies of goodsdispatched or transported to the same Member State of arrival of the
dispatchor transport wh ere:
— the total value of such supplies, less value added tax, does not in
one calendar year exceed the equivalent in national currency of
ECU 100000,
and
— the total value, less value added tax, of the supplies of goods other
than products subject to excise duty effected under the conditionslaid down in paragraph1 in th e previous calendar year did notexceed the equivalent in national currency of ECU 100000.
The Member State within the territory of which the goods are when
dispatch or transport to the purchaser ends may limit the thresholds
referred to above to the equivalent in national currency of ECU 35000where that Member State fears that the threshold of ECU 100000referred to above would lead to serious distortions of the conditions ofcompetition. Member States which exercise this option shall take themeasures necessary to inform the relevant public authorities in the
Member State of dispatchor transport of th e goods.
Before 31 December 1994, the Commission shall report to the Council
on the operation of the special ECU 35 000 thresholds provided for inthe preceding subparagraph. In that report the Commission may informthe Council that the abolition of the special thresholds will not lead to
serious distortions of the conditions of competition. Until the Council
takes a unanimous decision on a Commission proposal, the precedingsubparagraphsh all remain in force.
3. The Member State within the territory of which the goods are at
the time of departure of the dispatch or transport shall grant thosetaxable persons who effect supplies of goods eligible under paragraph
2 the right to choose that the place of such supplies shall be determined
in accordance withparagraph1.
The Member States concerned shall determine the detailed rules for the
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C.Placeofthesupplyofservicesintheintra-Communitytransportof
goods
1. By way of derogation from Article 9 (2) (b), the place of the
supply of services in the intra-Community transport of goods shall bedetermined in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. For the purposesof this Title the following definitions shall apply:
— ‘the intra-Community transport of goods’ shall mean transport
where the place of departure and the place of arrival are situated
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The transport of goods where the place of departure and the place
of arrival are situated within the territory of the country shall be
treated as intra-Community transport of goods where such transportis directly linked to transport of goods where the place of departureand the place of arrival are situated within the territories of twodifferent Member States;
— ‘the place of departure’ shall mean the place where the transport of
goods actually starts, leaving aside distance actually travelled to theplace where the goods are,
— ‘the place of arrival’ shall mean the place where the transport of
goods actually ends.
2. The place of the supply of services in the intra-Community trans-
port of goods shall be the place of departure.
3. However, by way of derogation from paragraph2, th e place of
the supply of services in the intra-Community transport of goodsrendered to customers identified for purposes of value added tax in aMember State other than that of the departure of the transport shall bedeemed to be within the territory of the Member State which issued the
customer with the value added tax identification number under which
the service was rendered to him.
4. Member States need not apply the tax to that part of the transport
corresponding to journeys made over waters which do not form part ofthe territory of the Community as defined in Article 3.
D.Place of the supply of services ancillary to the intra-Community
transportofgoods
By way of derogation from Article 9 (2) (c), the place of the supply of
services involving activities ancillary to the intra-Community transportof goods, rendered to customers identified for purposes of value addedtax in a Member State other than that within the territory of which theservices are physically performed, shall be deemed to be within theterritory of the Member State which issued the customer with the value
added tax identification number under which the service was rendered
to him.
E.Placeofthesupplyofservicesrenderedbyintermediaries
1. By way of derogation from Article 9 (1), the place of the supply
of services rendered by intermediaries, acting in the name and for theaccount of other persons, where they form part of the supply ofservices in the intra-Community transport of goods, shall be the placeof departure.
However, where the customer for whom the services rendered by the
intermediary are performed is identified for purposes of value addedtax in a Member State other than that of the departure of the transport,the place of the supply of services rendered by an intermediary shall bedeemed to be within the territory of the Member State which issued the
customer with the value added tax identification number under which
the service was rendered to him.
2. By way of derogation from Article 9 (1), the place of the supply
of services rendered by intermediaries acting in the name and for the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 49
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account of other persons, where they form part of the supply of
services the purpose of which is activities ancillary to the intra-Community transport of goods, shall be the place where the ancillary
services are physically performed.
However, where the customer of the services rendered by the inter-
mediary is identified for purposes of value added tax in a Member
State other than that within the territory of which the ancillary service
is physically performed, the place of supply of the services rendered bythe intermediary shall be deemed to be within the territory of theMember State which issued the customer with the value added taxidentification number under which the service was rendered to him by
the intermediary.
3. By way of derogation from Article 9 (1), the place of the supply
of services rendered by intermediaries acting in the name and for the
account of other persons, when such services form part of transactions
other than those referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 or in Article 9 (2) (e),shall be the place where those transactions are carried out.
However, where the customer is identified for purposes of value added
tax in a Member State other than that within the territory of whichthose transactions are carried out, the place of supply of the servicesrendered by the intermediary shall be deemed to be within the territoryof the Member State which issued the customer with the value addedtax identification number under which the service was rendered to
him by the intermediary.
F.Placeofthesupplyofservicesinthecaseofvaluationsoforwork
onmovabletangibleproperty
By way of derogation from Article 9 (2) (c), the place of the supply of
services involving valuations or work on movable tangible property,provided to customers identified for value added tax purposes in aMember State other than the one where those services are physically
carried out, shall be deemed to be in the territory of the Member State
which issued the customer with the value added tax identificationnumber under which the service was carried out for him.
This derogation shall not apply where the goods are not dispatched or
transported out of the Member State where the services were physicallycarried out.
Article 28c
Exemptions
A.Exemptsuppliesofgoods
Without prejudice to other Community provisions and subject to condi-
tions which they shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct
and straightforward application of the exemptions provided for below
and preventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse, Member States shallexempt:
(a) supplies of goods, ►
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transported by or on behalf of the vendor or the person acquiringthe goods out of the territory referred to in Article 3 but withinthe Community, effected for another taxable person or a non-taxable legal person acting as such in a Member State other than
that of the departure of the dispatch or transport of the goods.
This exemption shall not apply to supplies of goods by taxable
persons exempt from tax pursuant to Article 24 or to supplies ofgoods effected for taxable persons or non-taxable legal personswho qualify for the derogation in the second subparagraph ofArticle 28a (1) (a);
(b) supplies of new means of transport, dispatched or transported to the
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territory referred to in Article 3 but within the Community, effected
for taxable persons or non-taxable legal persons who qualify for thederogation provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 28a
(1) (a) or for any other non-taxable person;
(c) the supply of goods subject to excise duty dispatched or transported
to the purchaser, by the vendor, by the purchaser or on his behalf,
outside the territory referred to in Article 3 but inside the Commu-nity, effected for taxable persons or non-taxable legal persons whoqualify for the derogation set out in the second subparagraph ofArticle 28a (1) (a), when the dispatch or transport of the goods iscarried out in accordance withArticle 7 (4) and (5), or Article 16
of Directive 92/12/EEC.
This exemption shall not apply to supplies of goods subject to
excise duty effected by taxable persons who benefit from theexemption from tax set out in Article 24;
(d) the supply of goods, within the meaning of Article 28a (5) (b),
which benefit from the exemptions set out above if they havebeen made on behalf of another taxable person.
B.Exemptintra-Communityacquisitionsofgoods
Without prejudice to other Community provisions and subject to condi-
tions which they shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correctand straightforward application of the exemptions provided for belowand preventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse, Member States shallexempt:
(a) the intra-Community acquisition of goods the supply of which by
taxable persons would in all circumstances be exempt within the
territory of the country;
(b) the intra-Community acquisition of goods the importation of which
would in all circumstances be exempt under Article 14 (1);
(c) the intra-Community acquisition of goods where, pursuant to
Article 17 (3) and (4), the person acquiring the goods would in allcircumstances be entitled to full reimbursement of the value addedtax due under Article 28a (1).
C.Exempttransportservices
Member States shall exempt the supply of intra-Community transport
services involved in the dispatch or transport of goods to and from the
islands making up the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeiraas well as the dispatch or transport of goods between those islands.
D.Exemptimportationofgoods
Where goods dispatched or transported from a third territory are
imported into a Member State other than that of arrival of the dispatchor transport, Member States shall exempt such imports where the
supply of suchgoods by th e importer as defined in ►
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21(4)◄is exempt in accordance withparagraphA.
Member States shall lay down the conditions governing this exemption
witha view to ensuring its correct and straigh tforward application andpreventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse.
E.Otherexemptions
1. In Article 16:
— paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:
‘1. Without prejudice to other Community tax provisions,
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Article 29, take special measures designed to exempt all or some
of the following transactions, provided that they are not aimed atfinal use and/or consumption and that the amount of value added
tax due on cessation of the arrangements on situations referred to
at A to E corresponds to the amount of tax which would havebeen due had each of these transactions been taxed within theterritory of the country:
A. imports of goods which are intended to be placed under
warehousing arrangements other than customs;
B. supplies of goods which are intended to be:
(a) produced to customs and, where applicable, placed in
temporary storage;
(b) placed in a free zone or in a free warehouse;
(c) placed under customs warehousing arrangements or
inward processing arrangements;
(d) admitted into territorial waters:
— in order to be incorporated into drilling or production
platforms, for purposes of the construction, repair,maintenance, alteration or fitting-out of suchplat-forms, or to link suchdrilling or productionplatforms to the mainland,
— for the fuelling and provisioning of drilling or produc-
tion platforms;
(e) placed, within the territory of the country, under ware-
housing arrangements other than customs warehousing.
For the purposes of this Article, warehouses other than
customs warehouses shall be taken to be:
— for products subject to excise duty, the places defined
as tax warehouses for the purposes of Article 4 (b) of
Directive 92/12/EEC,
— for goods other than those subject to excise duty, the
places defined as suchby th e Member States.However, Member States may not provide for ware-
housing arrangements other than customs
warehousing where the goods in question are intendedto be supplied at the retail stage.
Nevertheless, Member States may provide for such
arrangements for goods intended for:
— taxable persons for the purposes of supplies effected
under the conditions laid down in Article 28k,
— tax-free shops within the meaning of Article 28k, for
the purposes of supplies to travellers taking flights or
sea crossings to third countries, where those suppliesare exempt pursuant to Article 15,
— taxable persons for the purposes of supplies to travel-
lers on board aircraft or vessels during a flight or seacrossing where the place of arrival is situated outsidethe Community,
— taxable persons for the purposes of supplies effected
free of tax pursuant to Article 15, point 10.
The places referred to in (a), (b), (c) and (d) shall be as
defined by the Community customs provisions in force;
C. supplies of services relating to the supplies of goods referred
to in B;
D. supplies of goods and of services carried out:
(a) in the places listed in B (a), (b), (c) and (d) and still
subject to one of the situations specified therein;
(b) in the places listed in B (e) and still subject, within the
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Where they exercise the option provided for in (a) for
transactions effected in customs warehouses, MemberStates shall take the measures necessary to ensure that
they have defined warehousing arrangements other than
customs warehousing which permit the provisions in (b)to be applied to the same transactions concerning goodslisted in Annex J which are efected (SIC! effected) insuch warehouses other than customs warehouses;
E. supplies:
— of goods referred to in Article 7 (1) (a) still subject to
arrangements for temporary importation withtotal exemp-
tion from import duty or to external transit arrangements,
— of goods referred to in Article 7 (1) (b) still subject to the
internal Community transit procedure provided for inArticle 33a,
as well as supplies of services relating to suchsupplies.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 21
(1) (a), the person liable to pay the tax due in accordance with
the first subparagraph shall be the person who causes the goodsto cease to be covered by the arrangements or situations listed inthis paragraph.
When the removal of goods from the arrangements or situations
referred to in this paragraph gives rise to importation within themeaning of Article 7 (3), the Member State of import shall takethe measures necessary to avoid double taxation within thecountry.’,
— the following paragraph shall be added:
‘1a. Where they exercise the option provided for in paragraph
1, Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure
that intra-Community acquisitions of goods intended to beplaced under one of the arrangements or in one of the situationsreferred to in paragraph1 (B) benefit from th e same provisionsas supplies of goods effected within the country under the sameconditions.’
2. In Article 16 (2):
— ‘intra-Community acquisitions of goods made by a taxable
person and’ shall be added after ‘may opt to exempt’ and‘outside the Community’ shall be added after ‘export them’,
— the following subparagraphs shall be added:
‘When they take up this option the Member States shall, subject
to the consultation provided for in Article 29, extend the benefitof this exemption to intra-Community acquisitions of goods by ataxable person, imports for and supplies of goods to a taxable
person intending to supply them, as they are or after processing,
under the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A), as well assupplies of services relating to suchsupplies, up to a maximumequal to the value of his supplies of goods effected under theconditions laid down in Article 28c (A) during the preceding
twelve months.
Member States may set a common maximum amount for trans-
actions which they exempt under the first and secondsubparagraphs.’
3. Member States shall take specific measures to ensure that value
added tax is not charged on the intra-Community acquisition ofgoods effected, within the meaning of Article 28b (A) (1), withinits territory when the following conditions are met:
— the intra-Community acquisition of goods is effected by a
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— the intra-Community acquisition of goods is effected for the
purpose of a subsequent supply of goods made by a taxableperson in the territory of the country,
— the goods so acquired by this taxable person are directly
dispatched or transported from another Member State than thatin which he is identified for value added tax purposes and
destined for the person for whom he effects the subsequent
supply,
— the person to whom the subsequent supply is made is a taxable
person or a non-taxable legal person who is identified for value
added tax purposes within the territory of the country,
— the person to whom the subsequent supply is made has been
designated in accordance with ►
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the person liable for the tax due on the supplies effected by the
taxable person not established within the territory of the country.
Article 28d
Chargeableeventandchargeability oftax
1. The chargeable event shall occur when the intra-Community
acquisition of goods is effected. The intra-Community acquisition of
goods shall be regarded as being effected when the supply of similargoods is regarded as being effected within the territory of the country.
2. For the intra-Community acquisition of goods, tax shall become
chargeable on the 15th day of the month following that during whichthe chargeable event occurs.
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, tax shall become charge-
able on the issue of the invoice ►
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the first subparagraph of Article 22 (3) (a) where that invoice►
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before the fifteenth day of the month following that during which thetaxable event occurs.
4. By way of derogation from Article 10 (2) and (3), tax shall
become chargeable for supplies of goods effected under the conditionslaid down in Article 28c (A) on the 15th day of the month following
that during which the chargeable event occurs.
However, tax shall become chargeable on the issue of the invoice
provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 22 (3) (a)►
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issued before the fifteenth day of the month following that during
which the taxable event occurs.
Article 28e
Taxableamountandrateapplicable
1. In the case of the intra-Community acquisition of goods, the
taxable amount shall be established on the basis of the same elementsas those used in accordance with Article 11 (A) to determine thetaxable amount for supply of the same goods within the territory ofthe country. ►
M6In particular, in the case of the intra-Community
acquisition of goods referred to in Article 28a (6), the taxable amount
shall be determined in accordance with Article 11 (A) (1) (b) and para-
graphs 2 and 3. ◄
Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the
excise duty due or paid by the person effecting the intra-Communityacquisition of a product subject to excise duty is included in the taxableamount in accordance withArticle 11 (A) (2) (a). ►
M6When, after
the moment the intra-Community acquisition of goods was effected,the acquirer obtains the refund of excise duties paid in the Member1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 54
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State from which the goods were dispatched or transported, the taxable
amount shall be reduced accordingly in the Member State where theintra-Community acquisition took place. ◄
2. For the supply of goods referred to in Article 28c (A) (d), the
taxable amount shall be determined in accordance with Article 11 (A)
(1) (b) and paragraphs 2 and 3.
►
M63.◄The tax rate applicable to the intra-Community acqui-
sition of goods shall be that in force when the tax becomes chargeable.
►M64.◄The tax rate applicable to the intra-Community acqui-
sition of goods shall be that applied to the supply of like goods withinthe territory of the country.
Article 28f
Rightofdeduction
1. Article 17 (2), (3) and (4) shall be replaced by the following:
‘2. In so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of
his taxable transactions, the taxable person shall be entitled to deductfrom the tax which he is liable to pay:
(a) value added tax due or paid within the territory of the country in
respect of goods or services supplied or to be supplied to him byanother taxable person;
(b) value added tax due or paid in respect of imported goods within the
territory of the country;
(c) value added tax due pursuant to Articles 5 (7) (a), 6 (3) and 28a
(6);
(d) value added tax due pursuant to Article 28a (1) (a).
3. Member States shall also grant every taxable person the right to
the deduction or refund of the value added tax referred to in paragraph2 in so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of:
(a) transactions relating to the economic activities referred to in Article
4 (2), carried out in another country, which would be deductible if
they had been performed within the territory of the country;
(b) transactions which are exempt pursuant to Article 14 (1) (i), 15, 16
(1) (B), (C), (D) or (E) or (2) or ►
M628c (A) and (C) ◄;
(c) any of the transactions exempt pursuant to Article 13 (B) (a) and
(d) (1) to (5), when the customer is established outside the Commu-
nity or when those transactions are directly linked with goods to beexported to a country outside the Community.
4. The refund of value added tax referred to in paragraph 3 shall be
effected:
— to taxable persons who are not established within the territory of the
country but who are established in another Member State in accor-
dance withth e detailed implementing rules laid down in Directive79/1072/EEC (*),
— to taxable persons who are not established within the territory of the
Community, in accordance withth e detailed implementing ruleslaid down in Directive 86/560/EEC (**).
(*) JO No L 331, 27. 12. 1979, p. 11.
(**) JO No L 326, 21. 11. 1986, p. 40.’
For the purposes of applying the above:
(a) the taxable persons referred to in Article 1 of Directive 79/1072/
EEC shall also be considered for the purposes of applying the saidDirective as taxable persons who are not established in the countrywhen, inside the territory of the country, they have only carried out1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 55
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supplies of goods and services to a person who has been designated
as the person liable to pay the tax in accordance with►
M18Article 21 (1)(a) and (c) ◄;
(b) the taxable persons referred to in Article 1 of Directive 86/560/
EEC shall also be considered for the purposes of applying the saidDirective as taxable persons who are not established in theCommunity when, inside the territory of the country, they haveonly carried out supplies of goods and services to a person who
has been designated as the person liable to pay the tax in accor-
dance withArticle 21 (1) (a);
(c) Directives 79/1072/EEC and 86/560/EEC shall not apply to
supplies of goods which are, or may be, exempted under Article28c (A) when the goods supplied are dispatched or transported by
the acquirer or for his account.
2. Article 18 (1) shall be replaced by the following:
‘1. To exercise his right of deduction, a taxable person must:
(a) in respect of deductions pursuant to Article 17 (2) (a), hold an
invoice drawn up in accordance withArticle 22 (3);
(b) in respect of deductions pursuant to Article 17 (2) (b), hold an
import document specifying him as consignee or importer and
stating or permitting the calculation of the amount of tax due;
(c) in respect of deductions pursuant to Article 17 (2) (c), comply with
the formalities established by each Member State;
(d) when he is required to pay the tax as a customer or purchaser
where Article 21 (1) applies, comply with the formalities laid
down by eachMember State;
(e) in respect of deductions pursuant to Article 17 (2) (d), set out in the
declaration provided for in Article 22 (4) all the informationneeded for the amount of the tax due on his intra-Communityacquisitions of goods to be calculated and hold an invoice in accor-dance withArticle 22 (3).’
3. The following paragraph shall be inserted in Article 18:‘3a. Member States may authorize a taxable person who does not
hold an invoice in accordance with Article 22 (3) to make the deduc-tion referred to in Article 17 (2) (d); they shall determine the
conditions and arrangements for applying this provision.’
Article 28g
Personsliableforpaymentofthetax
Article 21 shall be replaced by the following:
‘►
M18Article 21
Personsliableforpaymentfortax1. Under the internal system, the following shall be liable to pay
value added tax:
(a) the taxable person carrying out the taxable supply of goods or
of services, except for the cases referred to in (b) and (c).
Where the taxable supply of goods or of services is effected by
a taxable person who is not established within the territory of
the country, Member States may, under conditions determinedby them, lay down that the person liable to pay tax is theperson for whom the taxable supply of goods or of services iscarried out;
(b) taxable persons to whom services covered by Article 9(2)(e) are
supplied or persons who are identified for value added taxpurposes within the territory of the country to whom servicescovered by Article 28b(C), (D), (E) and (F) are supplied, ifthe services are carried out by a taxable person not establishedwithin the territory of the country;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 56
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(c) the person to whom the supply of goods is made when the
following conditions are met:
— the taxable operation is a supply of goods made under the
conditions laid down in Article 28c(E)(3),
— the person to whom the supply of goods is made is another
taxable person or a non-taxable legal person identified forthe purposes of value added tax within the territory of the
country,
— the invoice issued by the taxable person not established
within the territory of the country conforms to Article 22(3).
However, Member States may provide a derogation from this
obligation, where the taxable person who is not established
within the territory of the country has appointed a tax represen-
tative in that country;
(d) any person who mentions the value added tax on an invoice
►
M20 ◄;
(e) any person effecting a taxable intra-Community acquisition of
goods.
2. By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1:
(a) where the person liable to pay tax in accordance with the provi-
sions of paragraph 1 is a taxable person who is not establishedwithin the territory of the country, Member States may allow
him to appoint a tax representative as the person liable to pay
tax. This option shall be subject to conditions and procedureslaid down by eachMember State;
(b) where the taxable transaction is effected by a taxable person
who is not established within the territory of the country andno legal instrument exists, with the country in which thattaxable person is established or has his seat, relating to mutual
assistance similar in scope to that laid down by Directives 76/
308/EEC (*) and 77/799/EEC (**) and by Council Regulation(EEC) No 218/92 of 27 January 1992 on administrative coop-eration in the field of indirect taxation (VAT) (***), MemberStates may take steps to provide that the person liable for
payment of the tax shall be a tax representative appointed by
the non-established taxable person.
3. In the situations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, Member
States may provide that someone other than the person liable forpayment of the tax shall be held jointly and severally liable forpayment of the tax.
4. On importation, value added tax shall be payable by the
person or persons designated or accepted as being liable by the
Member State into which the goods are imported. ◄
(*) OJ L 73, 19.3.1976, p. 18. Directive as last amended by the
1994 Act of Accession.
(**) OJ L 336, 27.12.1977, p. 15. Directive as last amended by the
1994 Act of Accession.
(***) OJ L 24, 1.2.1992, p. 1.’
Article 28h
Obligationsofpersonsliableforpayment
Article 22 shall be replaced by the following:
‘Article 22
Obligationsundertheinternalsystem:
1.►
M21(a) Every taxable person shall state when his activity as
a taxable person commences, changes or ceases. MemberStates shall, subject to conditions which they lay down,allow the taxable person to make such statements by elec-tronic means, and may also require that electronic meansare used. ◄1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 57
▼M4
(b) Without prejudice to (a), every taxable person referred to in
Article 28a (1) (a), second subparagraph, shall state that heis effecting intra-Community acquisitions of goods when the
conditions for application of the derogation provided for in
that Article are not fulfilled.
(c) Member States shall take the measures necessary to identify
by means of an individual number:
— every taxable person, with the exception of those referred
to in Article 28a(4), who within the territory of thecountry effects supplies of goods or of services giving
him the right of deduction, other than supplies of goods
or of services for which tax is payable solely by thecustomer or the recipient in accordance with Article21(1)(a), (b) or (c). However, Member States need notidentify certain taxable persons referred to in Article
4(3),
— every taxable person referred to in paragraph1 (b) and
every taxable person who exercises the option provided
for in the third subparagraph of Article 28a (1) (a).
— every taxable person who, within the territory of the
country, effects intra-Community acquisitions of goods
for the purposes of his operations relating to theeconomic activities referred to in Article 4 (2) carriedout abroad,
(d) Each individual identification number shall have a prefix in
accordance withISO International Standard No 3166 —
alpha 2 — by which the Member State of issue may be iden-tified.►
M20Nevertheless, the Hellenic Republic shall be
authorised to use the prefix “EL”. ◄
(e) Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure
that their identification systems distinguish the taxablepersons referred to in (c) and to ensure the correct applica-tion of the transitional arrangements for the taxation of intra-
Community transactions as laid down in this Title.
2. (a) Every taxable person shall keep accounts in sufficient detail
for value added tax to be applied and inspected by the tax
authority.
(b) Every taxable person shall keep a register of the goods he
has dispatched or transported or which have been dispatchedor transported on his behalf out of the territory defined in
Article 3 but within the Community for the purposes of the
transactions referred to in the fifth, sixth and seventh indentsof Article 28a (5) (b).
Every taxable person shall keep sufficiently detailed
accounts to permit the identification of goods dispatched tohim from another Member State by or on behalf of a taxableperson identified for purposes of value added tax in thatother Member State, in connection with which a service has
been provided pursuant to the third or fourth indent of
Article 9 (2) (c);
3. (a) Every taxable person shall ensure that an invoice is issued,
either by himself or by his customer or, in his name and on
his behalf, by a third party, in respect of goods or services
which he has supplied or rendered to another taxable personor to a non-taxable legal person. Every taxable person shallalso ensure that an invoice is issued, either by himself or byhis customer or, in his name and on his behalf, by a thirdparty, in respect of the supplies of goods referred to in1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 58
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Article 28b(B)(1) and in respect of goods supplied under the
conditions laid down in Article 28c(A).
Every taxable person shall likewise ensure that an invoice is
issued, either by himself or by his customer or, in his nameand on his behalf, by a third party, in respect of anypayment on account made to him before any supplies ofgoods referred to in the first subparagraph and in respect of
any payment on account made to him by another taxable
person or non-taxable legal person before the provision ofservices is completed.
Member States may impose on taxable persons an obligation
to issue an invoice in respect of goods or services other than
those referred to in the preceding subparagraphs which theyhave supplied or rendered on their territory. When they doso, Member States may impose fewer obligations in respectof these invoices than those listed under points (b), (c) and(d).
The Member States may release taxable persons from the
obligation to issue an invoice in respect of goods or serviceswhich they have supplied or rendered in their territory andwhich are exempt, with or without refund of the tax paid at
the preceding stage, pursuant to Article 13, Article 28(2)(a)
and Article 28(3)(b).
Any document or message that amends and refers specifi-
cally and unambiguously to the initial invoice is to be
treated as an invoice. Member States in whose territory
goods or services are supplied or rendered may allow someof the obligatory details to be left out of such documents ormessages.
Member States may impose time limits for the issue of
invoices on taxable persons supplying goods and services in
their territory.
Under conditions to be laid down by the Member States in
whose territory goods or services are supplied or rendered,
a summary invoice may be drawn up for several separate
supplies of goods or services.
Invoices may be drawn up by the customer of a taxable
person in respect of goods or services supplied or rendered
to him by that taxable person, on condition that there is at
the outset an agreement between the two parties, and oncondition that a procedure exists for the acceptance of eachinvoice by the taxable person supplying the goods orservices. The Member States in whose territory the goodsor services are supplied or rendered shall determine the
terms and conditions of the agreement and of the acceptance
procedures between the taxable person and his customer.
Member States may impose further conditions on the issue
of invoices by the customers of taxable persons supplying
goods or services on their territory. For example, they may
require that such invoices be issued in the name and onbehalf of the taxable person. Such conditions must alwaysbe the same wherever the customer is established.
Member States may also lay down specific conditions for
taxable persons supplying goods or services in their territory
in cases where the third party, or the customer, who issuesinvoices is established in a country with which no legalinstrument exists relating to mutual assistance similar inscope to that laid down by Council Directive 76/308/EEC
of 15 March1976 on mutual assistance for th e recovery of
claims relating to certain levies, duties, taxes and othermeasures (*), Council Directive 77/799/EEC of 19December 1977 concerning mutual assistance by the compe-tent authorities of the Member States in the field of directand indirect taxation (**) and by Council Regulation (EEC)1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 59
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No 218/92 of 27 January 1992 on administrative cooperation
in the field of indirect taxation (VAT)(***).
(b) Without prejudice to the specific arrangements laid down by
this Directive, only the following details are required forVAT purposes on invoices issued under the first, secondand third subparagraphs of point (a):
— the date of issue;
— a sequential number, based on one or more series, which
uniquely identifies the invoice,
— the VAT identification number referred to in paragraph
1(c) under which the taxable person supplied the goodsor services;
— where the customer is liable to pay tax on goods supplied
or services rendered or has been supplied with goods as
referred to in Article 28c(A), the VAT identification
number as referred to in paragraph 1(c) under which thegoods were supplied or the services rendered to him;
— the full name and address of the taxable person and of
his customer;
— the quantity and nature of the goods supplied or the
extent and nature of the services rendered;
— the date on which the supply of goods or of services was
made or completed or the date on which the payment on
account referred to in the second subparagraph of point
(a) was made, insofar as that a date can be determinedand differs from the date of issue of the invoice;
— the taxable amount per rate or exemption, the unit price
exclusive of tax and any discounts or rebates if they arenot included in the unit price;
— the VAT rate applied;— the VAT amount payable, except where a specific
arrangement is applied for which this Directive excludessucha detail;
— where an exemption is involved or where the customer is
liable to pay the tax, reference to the appropriate provi-
sion of this directive, to the corresponding national
provision, or to any indication that the supply is exemptor subject to the reverse charge procedure;
— where the intra-Community supply of a new means of
transport is involved, the particulars specified in Article28a(2);
— where the margin scheme is applied, reference to Article
26 or 26a, to the corresponding national provisions, or to
any other indication that the margin scheme has been
applied;
— where the person liable to pay the tax is a tax represen-
tative within the meaning of Article 21(2), the VATidentification number referred to in paragraph1(c) ofthat tax representative, together with his full name andaddress.
Member States may require taxable persons established on
their territory and supplying goods or services on their terri-tory to indicate the VAT identification number referred to in
paragraph 1(c) of their customer in cases other than those
referred to in the fourth indent of the first subparagraph.
Member States shall not require invoices to be signed.
The amounts which appear on the invoice may be expressed
in any currency, provided that the amount of tax to be paidis expressed in the national currency of the Member Statewhere the supply of goods or services takes place, using the
conversion mechanism laid down in Article 11 C(2).
Where necessary for control purposes, Member States may
require invoices in respect of goods supplied or servicesrendered in their territory and invoices received by taxable1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 60
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persons in their territory to be translated into their national
languages.
(c) Invoices issued pursuant to point (a) may be sent either on
paper or, subject to an acceptance by the customer, by elec-
tronic means.
Invoices sent by electronic means shall be accepted by
Member States provided that the authenticity of the origin
and integrity of the contents are guaranteed:
— by means of an advanced electronic signature within the
meaning of Article 2(2) of Directive 1999/93/EC of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council of 13 December1999 on a Community framework for electronic signa-tures (****); Member States may however ask for theadvanced electronic signature to be based on a qualified
certificate and created by a secure-signature-creation
device, within the meaning of Article 2(6) and (10) ofthe aforementioned Directive;
— or by means of electronic data interchange (EDI) as
defined in Article 2 of Commission Recommendation
1994/820/EC of 19 October 1994 relating to the legal
aspects of electronic data interchange (*****) when theagreement relating to the exchange provides for the useof procedures guaranteeing the authenticity of the originand integrity of the data; however Member States may,subject to conditions which they lay down, require that
an additional summary document on paper is necessary.
Invoices may, however, be sent by other electronic means
subject to acceptance by the Member State(s) concerned.The Commission will present, at the latest on 31 December2008, a report, together with a proposal, if appropriate,amending the conditions on electronic invoicing in order totake account of possible future technological developments
in this field.
Member States may not impose on taxable persons
supplying goods or services in their territory any other obli-
gations or formalities relating to the transmission of invoicesby electronic means. However, they may provide, until 31December 2005, that the use of such a system is to besubject to prior notification.
Member States may lay down specific conditions for
invoices issued by electronic means for goods or services
supplied in their territory from a country with which no legal
instrument exists relating to mutual assistance similar inscope to that laid down by Directives 76/308/EEC and 77/799/EEC and by Regulation (EEC) No 218/92.
When batches containing several invoices are sent to the
same recipient by electronic means, the details that arecommon to the individual invoices may be mentioned onlyonce if, for eachinvoice, all th e information is accessible.
(d) Every taxable person shall ensure that copies of invoices
issued by himself, by his customer or, in his name and on
his behalf, by a third party, and all the invoices which he
has received are stored.
For the purposes of this Directive, the taxable person may
decide the place of storage provided that he makes theinvoices or information stored there available without unduedelay to the competent authorities whenever they so request.Member States may, however, require taxable persons estab-
lished in their territory to notify them of the place of storage,
if it is outside their territory. Member States may, in addi-tion, require taxable persons established in their territory tostore within the country invoices issued by themselves or bytheir customers or, in their name and on their behalf, by athird party, as well as all the invoices which they have1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 61
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received, when the storage is not by electronic means guar-
anteeing full on-line access to the data concerned.
The authenticity of the origin and integrity of the content of
the invoices, as well as their readability, must be guaranteed
throughout the storage period. As regards the invoicesreferred to in the third subparagraph of point (c), the infor-mation they contain may not be altered; it must remainlegible throughout the aforementioned period.
The Member States shall determine the period for which
taxable persons must store invoices relating to goods or
services supplied in their territory and invoices received bytaxable persons established in their territory.
In order to ensure that the conditions laid down in the third
subparagraphare met, Member States referred to in th efourthsubparagraphmay require th at invoices be stored inthe original form in which they were sent, whether paper or
electronic. They may also require that when invoices are
stored by electronic means, the data guaranteeing the authen-ticity of the origin and integrity of the content also be stored.
Member States referred to in the fourth subparagraph may
impose specific conditions prohibiting or restricting thestorage of invoices in a country withwh ichno legal instru-
ment exists relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to
that laid down by Directives 76/308/EEC, 77/799/EEC andby Regulation (EEC) No 218/92 and to the right of accessby electronic means, download and use referred to in Article22a.
Member States may, subject to conditions which they lay
down, require the storage of invoices received by non-
taxable persons.
(e) For the purposes of points (c) and (d), transmission and
storage of invoices “by electronic means” shall mean trans-mission or making available to the recipient and storageusing electronic equipment for processing (including digital
compression) and storage of data, and employing wires,
radio transmission, optical technologies or other electromag-netic means.
For the purposes of this Directive, Member States shall
accept documents or messages in paper or electronic formas invoices if they meet the conditions laid down in thisparagraph.
(*) OJ L 73, 19.3.1976, p. 18. Directive as last amended by
Directive 2001/44/EC (OJ L 175, 28.6.2001, p. 17).
(**) OJ L 336, 27.12.1977, p. 15. Directive as last amended by
the 1994 Act of Accession.
(***) OJ L 24, 1.2.1992, p. 1.
(****) OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12.(*****) OJ L 338, 28.12.1994, p. 98.
4.►
M21(a) Every taxable person shall submit a return by a
deadline to be determined by Member States. That deadlinemay not be more than two months later than the end of eachtax period. The tax period shall be fixed by each Member
State at one month, two months or a quarter. Member States
may, however, set different periods provided that they donot exceed one year. Member States shall, subject to condi-tions which they lay down, allow the taxable person to makesuchreturns by electronic means, and may also require th atelectronic means are used. ◄1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 62
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(b) The return shall set out all the information needed to calcu-
late the tax that has become chargeable and the deductionsto be made including, where appropriate, and in so far as it
seems necessary for the establishment of the basis of assess-
ment, the total value of the transactions relative to such taxand deductions and the value of any exempt transactions.
(c) The return shall also set out:
— on the one hand, the total value, less value added tax, of
the supplies of goods referred to in Article 28c (A) onwhich tax has become chargeable during the period.
The following shall also be added: the total value, less
value added tax, of the supplies of goods referred to inthe second sentence of Article 8 (1) (a) and in Article
28b (B) (1) effected within the territory of another
Member State for which tax has become chargeableduring the return period where the place of departure ofthe dispatch or transport of the goods is situated in theterritory of the country,
— on the other hand, the total amount, less value-added tax
of the intra-Community acquisitions of goods referred toin Article 28a (1) and (6) effected within the territory ofthe country on which tax has become chargeable.
The following shall also be added: the total value, less
value-added tax, of the supplies of goods referred to inthe second sentence of Article 8 (1) (a) and in Article28 (b) (B) (1) effected in the territory of the country onwhich tax has become chargeable during the returnperiod, where the place of departure of the dispatch or
transport of the goods is situated within the territory of
another Member State, and the total amount, less value-added tax, of the supplies of goods made within the terri-tory of the country for which the taxable person has beendesignated as the person liable for the tax in accordance
with Article 28c (E) (3) and under which the tax has
become payable in the course of the period covered bythe declaration.
5. Every taxable person shall pay the net amount of the value
added tax when submitting the regular return. Member States may,
however, set a different date for the payment of that amount or may
demand an interim payment.
6.►
M21(a) Member States may require a taxable person to
submit a statement, including all the particulars speci-
fied in paragraph4, concerning all transactionscarried out in the preceding year. That statement shallprovide all the information necessary for any adjust-ments. Member States shall, subject to conditions
which they lay down, allow the taxable person to
make suchstatements by electronic means, and mayalso require that electronic means are used. ◄
(SIC! (b)) Every taxable person identified for value added tax
purposes shall also submit a recapitulative statement
of the acquirers identified for value added tax
purposes to whom he has supplied goods under theconditions provided for in Article 28c (A) (a) and(d), and of consignees identified for value added taxpurposes in the transactions referred to in the fifthsubparagraph.
The recapitulative statement shall be drawn up for
eachcalendar quarter with in a period and in accor-dance withprocedures to be determined by th eMember States, which shall take the measures neces-sary to ensure that the provisions concerning1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 63
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administrative cooperation in the field of indirect
taxation are in any event complied with. MemberStates shall, subject to conditions which they lay
down, allow the taxable person to make such state-
ments by electronic means, and may also require thatelectronic means are used.
The recapitulative statement shall set out:
— the number by which the taxable person is identi-
fied for purposes of value added tax in the
territory of the country and under which heeffected supplies of goods in the conditions laiddown in►
M6Article 28c (A) (a) ◄,
— the number by which each person acquiring goods
is identified for purposes of value added tax inanother Member State and under which the goods
were supplied to him,
— for eachperson acquiring goods, th e total value of
the supplies of goods effected by the taxableperson. Those amounts shall be declared for thecalendar quarter during which the tax becamechargeable.
The recapitulative statement shall also set out:
— for the supplies of goods covered by
►
M6Article 28c (A) (d) ◄, the number by
means of which the taxable person is identifiedfor purposes of value added tax in the territory of
the country, the number by which he is identified
in the Member State of arrival of the dispatch ortransport ►
M6and the total amount of the
supplies, determined in accordance withArticle28e (2)◄,
— the amounts of adjustments made pursuant to
Article 11 (C) (1). Those amounts shall be
declared for the calendar quarter during which
the person acquiring the goods is notified of theadjustment.
In the cases set out in the third subparagraph ofArticle 28b (A) (2), the taxable person identified forvalue added tax purposes within the territory of thecountry shall mention in a clear way on the recapitu-lative statement:
— the number by which he is identified for value
added tax purposes within the territory of thecountry and under which he carried out the intra-Community acquisition and the subsequent supplyof goods,
— the number by which, within the territory of the
Member State of arrival of the dispatch or trans-
port of the goods, the consignee of the
subsequent supply by the taxable person is identi-fied,
— and, for eachconsignee, th e total amount, less
value added tax, of the supplies made by thetaxable person within the territory of the MemberState of arrival of the dispatch or transport of thegoods. These amounts shall be declared for the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 64
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calendar quarter during which the tax became
chargeable.
(c) By way of derogation from (b), Member States may:
— require recapitulative statements to be filed on a
monthly basis,
— require that recapitulative statements give addi-
tional particulars.
(d) In the case of supplies of new means of transport
effected under the conditions laid down in Article
28c (A) (b) by a taxable person identified for
purposes of value added tax to a purchaser not identi-fied for purposes of value added tax or by a taxableperson as defined in Article 28a (4), Member Statesshall take the measures necessary to ensure that the
vendor communicates all the information necessary
for value added tax to be applied and inspected bythe tax authority.
(e) Member States may require taxable persons who in
the territory of the country effect intra-Community
acquisitions of goods as defined in Article 28a (1)
(a) and (6) to submit statements giving details ofsuch acquisitions provided, however, that such state-ments may not be required for a period of less thanone month.
Member States may also require persons who effect
intra-Community acquisitions of new means of trans-port as defined in Article 28a (1) (b) to provide, whensubmitting the return referred to in paragraph 4, allthe information necessary for value added tax to be
applied and inspected by the tax authority.
7. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure
that those persons who, in accordance with Article 21(1) and (2),are considered to be liable to pay the tax instead of a taxableperson not established within the territory of the country comply
withth e obligations relating to declaration and payment set out in
this Article; they shall also take the measures necessary to ensurethat those persons who, in accordance with Article 21(3), are heldto be jointly and severally liable for payment of the tax complywith the obligations relating to payment set out in this Article.
8. Member States may impose other obligations which they
deem necessary for the correct collection of the tax and for theprevention of evasion, subject to the requirement of equal treatmentfor domestic transactions and transactions carried out betweenMember States by taxable persons and provided that such obliga-
tions do not, in trade between Member States, give rise to
formalities connected withth e crossing of frontiers.
The option provided for in the first subparagraph cannot be used to
impose additional obligations over and above those laid down inparagraph3.
9. (a) Member States may release from certain or all obligations:
— taxable persons carrying out only supplies of goods or of
services which are exempt pursuant to Articles 13 and15,
— taxable persons eligible for the exemption from tax
provided for in Article 24 and for the derogation
provided for in Article 28a (1) (a), second subparagraph,
— taxable persons carrying out none of the transactions
referred to in paragraph4 (c).1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 65
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Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in point (d),
Member States may not, however, release the taxablepersons referred to in the third indent from the obligations
referred to in Article 22(3).
(b) Member States may release taxable persons other than those
referred to in (a) from certain of the obligations referred toin 2 (a).
(c) Member States may release taxable persons from payment of
the tax due where the amount involved is insignificant.
(d) Subject to consultation of the Committee provided for in
Article 29 and under the conditions which they may laydown, Member States may provide that invoices in respectof goods supplied or services rendered in their territory donot have to fulfil some of the conditions laid down in para-
graph3(b) in th e following cases:
— when the amount of the invoice is minor, or
— when commercial or administrative practice in the busi-
ness sector concerned or the technical conditions underwhich the invoices are issued make it difficult to complywithall th e requirements referred to in paragraph3(b).
In any case, these invoices must contain the following:
— the date of issue,
— identification of the taxable person,— identification of the type of goods supplied or services
rendered,
— the tax due or the information needed to calculate it.
The simplified arrangements provided for in this point may
not be applied to transactions referred to in paragraph4(c).
(e) In cases where Member States make use of the option
provided for in the third indent of point (a) to refrain from
allocating a number as referred to in paragraph1(c) to
taxable persons who do not carry out any of the transactionsreferred to in paragraph 4(c), and where the supplier or thecustomer have not been allocated an identification numberof this type, the invoice should feature instead another
number called the tax reference number, as defined by the
Member States concerned.
When the taxable person has been allocated an identification
number as referred to in paragraph1(c), th e Member States
referred to in the first subparagraph may also require the
invoice to show:
— for services rendered referred to in Article 28b(C), (D),
(E) and (F) and for supplies of goods referred to in
Article 28c(A) and (E) point 3, the number referred to
in paragraph 1(c) and the tax reference number of thesupplier;
— for other supplies of goods and services, only the tax
reference number of the supplier or only the numberreferred to in paragraph1(c).
10. Member States shall take measures to ensure that non-
taxable legal persons who are liable for the tax payable in respectof intra-Community acquisitions of goods covered by the firstsubparagraphof Article 28a (1) (a) comply withth e above obliga-tions relating to declaration and payment and that they areidentified by an individual number as defined in paragraph1 (c),
(d) and (e).
11.►
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products subject to excise duty referred to in Article 28a (1) (c) aswell as◄in the case of intra-Community acquisitions of new1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 66
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means of transport covered by Article 28a (1) (b), Member States
shall adopt arrangements for declaration and subsequent payment.
12. Acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, the
Council may authorize any Member State to introduce particularmeasures to simplify the statement obligations laid down in para-graph 6 (b). Such simplification measures, which shall not
jeopardize the proper monitoring of intra-Community transactions,
may take the following forms:
(a) Member States may authorize taxable persons who meet the
following three conditions to file one-year recapitulative state-ments indicating the numbers by which the persons to whomthose taxable persons have supplied goods under the conditions
laid down in Article 28c (A) are identified for purposes of
value added tax in other Member States:
— the total annual value, less value added tax, of their supplies
of goods or provisions of services, as defined in Articles 5,
6 and 28a (5), does not exceed by more than ECU 35000
the amount of the annual turnover which is used as a refer-ence for application of the exemption from tax provided forin Article 24,
— the total annual value, less value added tax, of supplies of
goods effected by them under the conditions laid down inArticle 28c (A) does not exceed the equivalent in national
currency of ECU 15 000,
— supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid
down in Article 28c (A) are other than supplies of new
means of transport;
(b) Member States which set at over three months the tax period
for which taxable persons must submit the returns provided for
in paragraph4 may auth orize suchpersons to submit recapitu-lative statements for the same period where those taxablepersons meet the following three conditions:
— the overall annual value, less value added tax, of the goods
and the services they supply, as defined in Articles 5, 6 and28a (5), does not exceed the equivalent in national currencyof ECU 200000,
— the total annual value, less value added tax, of supplies of
goods effected by them under the conditions laid down inArticle 28c (A) does not exceed the equivalent in national
currency of ECU 15 000,
— supplies of goods effected by them under the conditions laid
down in Article 28c (A) are other than supplies of new
means of transport.’
Article 28i
Specialschemeforsmallundertakings
The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 24 (3):‘In all circumstances supplies of new means of transport effected under
the conditions laid down in Article 28c (A) as well as supplies ofgoods and services effected by a taxable person who is not establishedin the territory of the country shall be excluded from the exemption
from tax under paragraph2.’
Article 28j
Commonflat-rate schemeforfarmers
1. The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 25 (4):‘When they exercise this option, Member States shall take the
measures necessary to ensure the correct application of the transitional1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 67
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arrangements for the taxation of intra-Community transactions as laid
down in Title XVIa.’
2. Article 25 (5) and (6) shall be replaced by the following:‘5. The flat-rate percentages provided for in paragraph 3 shall be
applied to the prices, exclusive of tax, of:
(a) agricultural products supplied by flat-rate farmers to taxable
persons other than those eligible within the territory of the countryfor the flat-rate scheme provided for in this Article;
(b) agricultural products supplied by flat-rate farmers, under the condi-
tions laid down in Article 28 c (A), to non-taxable legal personsnot eligible, in the Member State of arrival of the dispatch or trans-port of the agricultural products thus supplied, for the derogationprovided for in Article 28a (1) (a), second subparagraph;
(c) agricultural services supplied by flat-rate farmers to taxable persons
other than those eligible within the territory of the country for theflat-rate scheme provided for in this Article.
This compensation shall exclude any other form of deduction.
6. In the case of the supplies of agricultural products and of agricul-
tural services referred to in paragraph5, Member States sh all providefor the flat-rate compensation to be paid either:
(a) by the purchaser or customer. In that event, the taxable purchaser
or customer shall be authorized, as provided for in Article 17 andin accordance with the procedures laid down by the Member States,
to deduct from the tax for which he is liable within the territory of
the country the amount of the flat-rate compensation he has paid toflat-rate farmers.
Member States shall refund to the purchaser or customer the
amount of the flat-rate compensation he has paid to flat-rate
farmers in respect of any of the following transactions:
— supplies of agricultural products effected under the conditions
laid down in Article 28c (A) to taxable persons, or to non-
taxable legal persons acting as suchin anoth er Member State
within which they are not eligible for the derogation providedfor in the second subparagraph of Article 28a (1) (a),
— supplies of agricultural products effected under the conditions
laid down in Article 15 and in Article 16 (1) (B), (D) and (E)to taxable purchasers established outside the Community,provided that the products are used by those purchasers for the
purposes of the transactions referred to in Article 17 (3) (a) and
(b) or for the purposes of services which are deemed to besupplied within the territory of the country and on which tax ispayable solely by the customers under Article 21 (1) (b),
— supplies of agricultural services to taxable customers estab-
lished within the Community but in other Member States or totaxable customers established outside the Community, providedthat the services are used by those customers for the purposes
of the transactions referred to in Article 17 (3) (a) and (b) and
for the purposes of services which are deemed to be suppliedwithin the territory of the country and on which tax is payablesolely by the customers under Article 21 (1) (b).
Member States shall determine the method by which the refunds
are to be made; in particular, they may apply Article 17 (4); or
(b) by the public authorities.’
3. The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 25 (9):
‘Whenever they exercise the option provided for in this Article,
Member States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that thesame method of taxation is applied to supplies of agricultural productseffected under the conditions laid down in Article 28b (B) (1), whetherthe supply is effected by a flat-rate farmer or by a taxable person otherthan a flat-rate farmer.’1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 68
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Article 28k
Miscellaneous provisions
The following provisions shall apply until 30 June 1999:1. Member States may exempt supplies by tax-free shops of goods to
be carried away in the personal luggage of travellers taking intra-
Community flights or sea crossings to other Member States. Forthe purposes of this Article:
(a) ‘tax-free shop shall mean any establishment situated within an
airport or port which fulfils the conditions laid down by the
competent public authorities pursuant, in particular, to paragraph5;
(b) ‘traveller to another Member State shall mean any passenger
holding a transport document for air or sea travel stating thatthe immediate destination is an airport or port situated inanother Member State;
(c) ‘intra-Community flight or sea crossing shall mean any trans-
port, by air or sea, starting within the territory of the country
as defined in Article 3, where the actual place of arrival is situ-
ated within another Member State.
Supplies of goods effected by tax-free shops shall include supplies
of goods effected on board aircraft or vessels during intra-Commu-nity passenger transport.
This exemption shall also apply to supplies of goods effected by
tax-free shops in either of two Channel Tunnel terminals, forpassengers holding valid tickets for the journey between those twoterminals.
2. Eligibility for the exemption provided for in paragraph 1 shall apply
only to supplies of goods:
(a) the total value of which per person per journey does not exceed
ECU 90.
By way of derogation from Article 28m, Member States shall
determine the equivalent in national currency of the above
amount in accordance withArticle 7 (2) of Directive 69/169/
EEC.
Where the total value of several items or of several supplies of
goods per person per journey exceeds those limits, the exemp-
tion shall be granted up to those amounts, on the understanding
that the value of an item may not be split;
(b) involving quantities per person per journey not exceeding the
limits laid down by the Community provisions in force for themovement of travellers between third countries and the Commu-nity.
The value of supplies of goods effected within the quantitative
limits laid down in the previous subparagraph shall not be takeninto account for the application of (a).
3. Member States shall grant every taxable person the right to a deduc-
tion or refund of the value added tax referred to in Article 17 (2) in
so far as the goods and services are used for the purposes of his
supplies of goods exempt under this Article.
4. Member States which exercise the option provided for in Article 16
(2) shall also grant eligibility under that provision to imports, intra-Community acquisitions and supplies of goods to a taxable personfor the purposes of his supplies of goods exempt pursuant to thisArticle.
5. Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure the
correct and straightforward application of the exemptions providedfor in this Article and to prevent any evasion, avoidance or abuse.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 69
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Article 28l
Periodofapplication
The transitional arrangements provided for in this Title shall enter into
force on 1 January 1993. Before 31 December 1994 the Commissionshall report to the Council on the operation of the transitional arrange-
ments and submit proposals for a definitive system.
The transitional arrangements shall be replaced by a definitive system
for the taxation of trade between Member States based in principle onthe taxation in the Member State of origin of the goods or services
supplied.
To that end, after having made a detailed examination of that report
and considering that the conditions for transition to the definitivesystem have been fulfilled satisfactorily, the Council, acting unani-
mously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the
European Parliament, shall decide before 31 December 1995 on thearrangements necessary for the entry into force and the operation ofthe definitive system.
The transitional arrangement shall enter into force for four years and
shall accordingly apply until 31 December 1996. The period of applica-tion of the transitional arrangements shall be extended automaticallyuntil the date of entry into force of the definitive system and in anyevent until the Council has decided on the definitive system.
Article 28m
Rateofconversion
To determine the equivalents in their national currencies of amounts
expressed in ecus in this Title Member States shall use the rate of
exchange applicable on 16 December 1991(
1).
Article 28n
Transitionalmeasures
1. When goods:
— entered the territory of the country within the meaning of Article 3
before 1 January 1993,
and
— were placed, on entry into the territory of that country, under one of
the regimes referred to in Article 14 (1) (b) or (c), or Article 16 (1)(A),
and
— have not left that regime before 1 Jannuary (SIC! January) 1993,
the provisions in force at the moment the goods were placed underthat regime shall continue to apply for the period, as determined bythose provisions, the goods remain under that regime.
2. The following shall be deemed to be an import of goods within
the meaning of Article 7 (1):
(a) the removal, including irregular removal, of goods from the regime
referred to in Article 14 (1) (c) under which the goods were placedbefore 1 January 1993 under the conditions set out in paragraph 1;
(b) the removal, including irregular removal, of goods from the regime
referred to in Article 16 (1) (A) under which the goods were placedbefore 1 January 1993 under the conditions set out in paragraph 1;
(c) the termination of a Community internal transit operation started
before 1 January 1993 in the Community for the purpose of supplyof goods for consideration made before 1 January 1993 in theCommunity by a taxable person acting as such;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 70
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(d) the termination of an external transit operation started before 1
January 1993;
(e) any irregularity or offence committed during an external transit
operation started under the conditions set out in (c) or any Commu-
nity external transit operation referred to in (d);
(f) the use within the country, by a taxable or non-taxable person, of
goods which have been supplied to him, before 1 January 1993,within another Member State, where the following conditions aremet:
— the supply of these goods has been exempted, or was likely to
be exempted, pursuant to Article 15 (1) and (2),
— the goods were not imported within the country before 1
January 1993.
For the purpose of the application of (c), the expression ‘Community
internal transit operation’ shall mean the dispatch or transport of goodsunder the cover of the internal Community transit arrangement or underthe cover of a T2 L document or the intra-Community movementcarnet, or the sending of goods by post.
3. In the cases referred to in paragraph 2 (a) to (e), the place of
import, within the meaning of Article 7 (2), shall be the Member Statewithin whose territory the goods cease to be covered by the regimeunder which they were placed before 1 January 1993.
4. By way of derogation from Article 10 (3), the import of the goods
within the meaning of paragraph 2 of this Article shall terminatewithout the occurrence of a chargeable event when:
(a) the imported goods are dispatched or transported outside the
Community within the meaning of Article 3;
or
(b) the imported goods, within the meaning of paragraph 2 (a), are
other than a means of transport and are dispatched or transported
to the Member State from which they were exported and to the
person who exported them;
or
(c) the imported goods, within the meaning of paragraph 2 (a), are
means of transport which were acquired or imported before 1January 1993, in accordance withth e general conditions of taxationin force on the domestic market of a Member State, within themeaning of Article 3, and/or have not been subject by reason oftheir exportation to any exemption from or refund of value added
tax.
This condition shall be deemed to be fulfilled when the date of the
first use of the means of transport was before 1 January 1985 orwhen the amount of tax due because of the importation is insignif-icant.
TITLE XVIb
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE IN THE FIELD OF
SECOND-HAND GOODS, WORKS OF ART, COLLECTORS' ITEMS
ANDANTIQUES
Article 28o
1. Member States which at 31 December 1992 were applying special
tax arrangements other than those provided for in Article 26a (B) tosupplies of second-hand means of transport effected by taxable dealersmy continue to apply those arrangements during the period referred toin Article 28l (SIC! 281) in so far as they comply with, or are adjusted
to comply with, the following conditions:
(a) the special arrangements shall apply only to supplies of the means
of transport referred to in Article 28a (2) (a) and regarded as1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 71
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second-hand goods within the meaning of Article 26a (A) (d),
effected by taxable dealers within the meaning of Article 26a (A)(e), and subject to the special tax arrangements for taxing the
margin pursuant to Article 26a (B) (1) and (2). Supplies of new
means of transport within the meaning of Article 28a (2) (b) thatare carried out under the conditions specified in Article 28c (A)shall be excluded from these special arrangements;
(b) the tax due in respect of each supply referred to in (a) is equal to
the amount of tax that would be due if that supply had been subjectto the normal arrangements for value added tax, less the amount ofvalue added tax regarded as being incorporated in the purchase
price of the means of transport by the taxable dealer;
(c) the tax regarded as being incorporated in the purchase price of the
means of transport by the taxable dealer shall be calculatedaccording to the following method:
— the purchase price to be taken into account shall be the
purchase price within the meaning of Article 26a (B) (3),
— that purchase price paid by the taxable dealer shall be deemed
to include the tax that would have been due if the taxabledealer's supplier had subjected the supply to the normal value
added tax arrangements,
— the rate to be taken into account shall be the rate applicable
within the meaning of Article 12 (1), in the Member Statewithin which the place of the supply to the taxable dealer,determined in accordance withArticle 8, is deemed to be situ-ated;
(d) the tax due in respect of each supply as referred to in (a), deter-
mined in accordance withth e provisions of (b), may not be lessthan the amount of tax that would be due if that supply had beensubject to the special arrangements for taxing the margin in accor-
dance withArticle 26a (B) (3).
For the application of the above provisions, the Member States
have the option of providing that if the supply had been subject to
the special arrangements for taxation of the margin, that margin
would not have been less than 10 % of the selling price, withinthe meaning of B (3);
(e) the taxable dealer shall not be entitled to indicate separately on the
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which he is subjecting to the special arrangements;
(f) taxable persons shall not be entitled to deduct from the tax for
which they are liable tax due or paid in respect of second-hand
means of transport supplied to them by a taxable dealer, in so faras the supply of those goods by the taxable dealer is subject to thetax arrangements in accordance with(a);
(g) by way of derogation from Article 28a (1) (a), intra-Community
acquisitions of means of transport are not subject to value addedtax where the vendor is a taxable dealer acting as such and thesecond-hand means of transport acquired has been subject to thetax, in the Member State of departure of the dispatch or transport,
in accordance with(a);
(h) Articles 28b (B) and 28c (A) (a) and (d) shall not apply to supplies
of second-hand means of transport subject to tax in accordance
with(a).
2. By way of derogation from the first sentence of paragraph 1, the
Kingdom of Denmark shall be entitled to apply the special tax arrange-ments laid down in paragraph 1 (a) to (h) during the period referred toin Article 28l (SIC! 281).
3. Where they apply the special arrangements for sales by public
auction provided for in Article 26a (C), Member States shall also apply
these special arrangements to supplies of second-hand means of trans-port effected by an organizer of sales by public auction acting in hisown name, pursuant to a contract under which commission is payableon the sale of those goods by public auction, on behalf of a taxabledealer, in so far as the supply of the second-hand means of transport,1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 72
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within the meaning of Article 5 (4) (c), by that other taxable dealer, is
subject to tax in accordance withparagraph s 1 and 2.
4. For supplies by a taxable dealer of works of art, collectors' items
or antiques that have been supplied to him under the conditions
provided for in Article 26a (B) (2), the Federal Republic of Germanyshall be entitled, until 30 June 1999, to provide for the possibility fortaxable dealers to apply either the special arrangements for taxabledealers, or the normal VAT arrangements according to the followingrules:
(a) for the application of the special arrangements for taxable dealers
to these supplies of goods, the taxable amount shall be determinedin accordance withArticle 11 (A) (1), (2) and (3);
(b) in so far as the goods are used for the needs of his operations
which are taxed in accordance with (a), the taxable dealer shall be
authorized to deduct from the tax for which he is liable:
— the value added tax due or paid for works of art, collectors'
items or antiques which are or will be supplied to him by
another taxable dealer, where the supply by that other taxable
dealer has been taxed in accordance with (a),
— the value added tax deemed to be included in the purchase price
of the works of art, collectors' items or antiques which are orwill be supplied to him by another taxable dealer, where thesupply by that other taxable dealer has been subject to valueadded tax in accordance with the special arrangements for thetaxation of the margin provided for in Article 26a (B), in the
Member State within whose territory the place of that supply,
determined in accordance withArticle 8, is deemed to be situ-ated.
This right to deduct shall arise at the time when the tax due for
te (SIC! the) supply taxed in accordance with (a) becomeschargeable;
(c) for the application of the provisions laid down in the second indent
of (b), the purchase price of the works of art, collectors' items orantiques the supply of which by a taxable dealer is taxed in accor-dance with(a) sh all be determined in accordance withArticle 26a(B) (3) and the tax deemed to be included in this purchase price
shall be calculated according to the following method:
— the purchase price shall be deemed to include the value added
tax that would have been due if the taxable margin made by thesupplier had been equal to 20 % of the purchase price,
— the rate to be taken into account shall be the rate applicable,
within the meaning of Article 12 (1), in the Member State
within whose territory the place of the supply that is subject to
the special arrangements for taxation of the profit margin, deter-mined in accordance withArticle 8, is deemed to be situated;
(d) where he applies the normal arrangements for value added tax to
the supply of a work of art, collectors' item or antique which has
been supplied to him by another taxable dealer and where thegoods have been taxed in accordance with (a), the taxable dealershall be authorized to deduct from his tax liability the value addedtax referred to in (b);
(e) the category of rates applicable to these supplies of goods shall be
that which was applicable on 1 January 1993;
(f) for the application of the fourth indent of Article 26a (B) (2), the
fourthindent of Article 26a (C) (1) and Article 26a (D) (b) and (c),
the supplies of works of art, collectors' items or antiques, taxed inaccordance with(a), sh all be deemed by Member States to besupplies subject to value added tax in accordance withth e specialarrangements for taxation of the profit margin provided for inArticle 26a (B);
(g) where the supplies of works of art, collectors' items or antiques
taxed in accordance with(a) are effected under th e conditionsprovided for in Article 28c (A), the invoice issued in accordancewith Article 22 (3) shall contain an endorsement indicating that1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 73
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the special taxation arrangements for taxing the margin provided
for in Article 28o (4) have been applied.
TITLE XVIc
Transitional measures applicable in the context of the accession to the
EuropeanUnionofAustria,FinlandandSweden
Article 28p
1. For the purpose of applying this Article:
— ‘Community’ shall mean the territory of the Community as defined
in Article 3 before accession,
— ‘new Member States’ shall mean the territory of the Member States
acceding to the European Union by the Treaty signed on 24 June
1994, as defined for eachof th ose Member States in Article 3 of
this Directive,
— ‘enlarged Community’ shall mean the territory of the Community
as defined in Article 3, after accession.
2. When goods:
— entered the territory of the Community or of one of the new
Member States before the date of accession,
and
— were placed, on entry into the territory of the Community or of one
of the new Member States, under a temporary admission procedure
withfull exemption from import duties, under one of th e regimesreferred to in Article 16 (1) (B) (a) to (d) or under a similar regimein one of the new Member States,
and
— have not left that regime before the date of accession,
the provisions in force at the moment the goods were placed under that
regime shall continue to apply until the goods leave this regime, afterthe date of accession.
3. When goods:
— were placed, before the date of accession, under the common transit
procedure or under another customs transit procedure,
and
— have not left that procedure before the date of accession,
the provisions in force at the moment the goods were placed under that
procedure shall continue to apply until the goods leave this procedure,after the date of accession.
For the purposes of the first indent, ‘common transit procedure’ shall
mean the measures for the transport of goods in transit between the
Community and the countries of the European Free Trade Association(EFTA) and between the EFTA countries themselves, as provided forin the Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure(
1).
4. The following shall be deemed to be an importation of goods
within the meaning of Article 7 (1) where it is shown that the goods
were in free circulation in one of the new Member States or in the
Community:
(a) the removal, including irregular removal, of goods from a
temporary admission procedure under which they were placedbefore the date of accession under the conditions set out in para-graph2;
(b) the removal, including irregular removal, of goods either from one
of the regimes referred to in Article 16 (1) (B) (a) to (d) or from asimilar regime under which they were placed before the date ofaccession under the conditions set out in paragraph 2;1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 74
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(c) the termination of one of the procedures referred to in paragraph 3
which was started before the date of accession in one of newMember States for the purposes of a supply of goods for considera-
tion effected before that date in that Member State by a taxable
person acting as such;
(d) any irregularity or offence committed during one of the procedures
referred to in paragraph3 under th e conditions set out at (c).
5. The use after the date of accession within a Member State, by a
taxable or non-taxable person, of goods supplied to him before the dateof accession within the Community or one of the new Member Statesshall also be deemed to be an importation of goods within the meaningof Article 7 (1) where the following conditions are met:
— the supply of those goods has been exempted, or was likely to be
exempted, either under Article 15 (1) and (2) or under a similarprovision in the new Member States,
— the goods were not imported into one of the new Member States or
into the Community before the date of accession.
6. In the cases referred to in paragraph 4, the place of import within
the meaning of Article 7 (3) shall be the Member State within whoseterritory the goods cease to be covered by the regime under which theywere placed before the date of accession.
7. By way of derogation from Article 10 (3), the importation of
goods within the meaning of paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article shall
terminate without the occurrence of a chargeable event when:
(a) the imported goods are dispatched or transported outside the
enlarged Community;
or
(b) the imported goods within the meaning of paragraph 4 (a) are other
than means of transport and are redispatched or transported to the
Member State from which they were exported and to the person
who exported them;
or
(c) the imported goods within the meaning of paragraph 4 (a) are
means of transport which were acquired or imported before thedate of accession in accordance withth e general conditions of taxa-tion in force on the domestic market of one of the new Member
States or of one of the Member States of the Community and/or
have not been subject, by reason of their exportation, to anyexemption from, or refund of, value added tax.
This condition shall be deemed to be fulfilled when the date of the first
use of the means of transport was before 1 January 1987 or when theamount of tax due by reason of the importation is insignificant.
TITLE XVII
VALUEADDEDTAXCOMMITTEE
Article 29
1. An Advisory Committee on value added tax, hereinafter called
‘the Committee’, is hereby set up.
2. The Committee shall consist of representatives of the Member
States and of the Commission.
The chairman of the Committee shall be a representative of the
Commission.
Secretarial services for the Committee shall be provided by the
Commission.
3. The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.4. In addition to points subject to the consultation provided for
under this Directive, the Committee shall examine questions raised by1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 75
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its chairman, on his own initiative or at the request of the representa-
tive of a Member State, which concern the application of theCommunity provisions on value added tax.
TITLE XVIII
MISCELLANEOUS
Article 30
InternationalAgreements
The Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission,
may authorize any Member State to conclude with a non-membercountry or an international organization an agreement which maycontain derogations from this Directive. A State wishing to concludesuch an agreement shall bring the matter to the notice of the Commis-
sion and provide all the information necessary for it to be considered.
The Commission shall inform the other Member States within onemonth.
The Council's decision shall be deemed to have been adopted if, within
two months of the other Member States being informed as laid down in
the previous paragraph, the matter has not been raised before the
Council.
Article 31
Unitofaccount
1. The unit of account used in the Directive shall be the European
unit of account (EUA) defined by Decision 75/250/EEC(
1).
2. When converting this unit of account into national currencies,
Member States shall have the option of rounding the amounts resulting
from this conversion either upwards or downwards by up to 10%.
Article 33
1. Without prejudice to other Community provisions, in particular
those laid down in the Community provisions in force relating to thegeneral arrangements for the holding, movement and monitoring ofproducts subject to excise duty, this Directive shall not prevent aMember State from maintaining or introducing taxes on insurance
contracts, taxes on betting and gambling, excise duties, stamp duties
and, more generally, any taxes, duties or charges which cannot be char-acterized as turnover taxes, provided however that those taxes, dutiesor charges do not, in trade between Member States, give rise to form-alities connected withth e crossing of frontiers.
2. Any reference in this Directive to products subject to excise duty
shall apply to the following products as defined by current Communityprovisions:
— mineral oils,
— alcohol and alcoholic beverages,— manufactured tobacco.
Article 33a
1. Goods referred to in Article 7 (1) (b) entering the Community
from a territory which forms part of the customs territory of the1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 76
(1) JO No L 104, 24. 4. 1975, p. 35.▼M8
▼M4
▼M6
▼M6
Community but which is considered as a third territory for the purposes
of applying this Directive shall be subject to the following provisions:
(a) the formalities relating to the entry of such goods into the Commu-
nity shall be the same as those laid down by the Communitycustoms provisions in force for the import of goods into thecustoms territory of the Community;
(b) when the place of arrival of the dispatch or transport of these goods
is situated outside the Member State where they enter the Commu-nity, they shall circulate in the Community under the internalCommunity transit procedure laid down by the Community
customs provisions in force, insofar as they have been the subject
of a declaration placing them under this regime when the goodsentered the Community;
(c) when at the moment of their entry into the Community the goods
are found to be in one of the situations which would qualify them,if they were imported within the meaning of Article 7 (1) (a), tobenefit from one of the arrangements referred to in Article 16 (1)(B) (a), (b), (c) and (d), or under a temporary arrangement in full
exemption from import duties, the Member States shall take
measures ensuring that the goods may remain in the Communityunder the same conditions as those laid down for the applicationof sucharrangements.
2. Goods not referred to in Article 7 (1) (a) dispatched or trans-
ported from a Member State to a destination in a territory that forms
parts of the customs territory of the Community but which is consid-ered as a third territory for the purposes of applying this Directiveshall be subject to the following provisions:
(a) the formalities relating to the export of those goods outside the
territory of the Community shall be the same as the Community
customs provisions in force in relation to export of goods outsidethe customs territory of the Community;
(b) for goods which are temporarily exported outside the Community,
in order to be reimported, the Member States shall take themeasures necessary to ensure that, on reimportation into theCommunity, suchgoods may benefit from th e same provisions asif they had been temporarily exported outside the customs territory
of the Community.
TITLE XIX
FINALPROVISIONS
Article 34
For the first time on 1 January 1982 and thereafter every two years, the
Commission shall, after consulting the Member States, send theCouncil a report on the application of the common system of valueadded tax in the Member States. This report shall be transmitted bythe Council to the European Parliament.
Article 35
At the appropriate time the Council acting unanimously on a proposal
from the Commission, after receiving the opinion of the EuropeanParliament and of the Economic and Social Committee, and in accor-dance with the interests of the common market, shall adopt further
Directives on the common system of value added tax, in particular to
restrict progressively or to repeal measures taken by the Member Statesby way of derogation from the system, in order to achieve completeparallelism of the national value added tax systems and thus permitthe attainment of the objective stated in Article 4 of the first CouncilDirective of 11 April 1967.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 77
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Article 36
The fourth paragraph of Article 2 and Article 5 of the first Council
Directive of 11 April 1967 are repealed.
Article 37
Second Council Directive 67/228/EEC of 11 April 1967 on value
added tax shall cease to have effect in each Member State as from the
respective dates on which the provisions of this Directive are brought
into application.
Article 38
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 78
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ANNEXA
LISTOFAGRICULTURALPRODUCTIONACTIVITIES
I. CROP PRODUCTION
1. General agriculture, including viticulture
2. Growing of fruit (including olives) and of vegetables, flowers and orna-
mental plants, bothin th e open and under glass
3. Production of mushrooms, spices, seeds and propagating materials;
nurseries
II. STOCK FARMING TOGETHER WITH CULTIVATION
1. General stock farming
2. Poultry farming3. Rabbit farming4. Beekeeping
5. Silkworm farming
6. Snail farming
III. FORESTRYIV. FISHERIES
1. Fresh-water fishing
2. Fishfarming
3. Breeding of mussels, oysters and other molluscs and crustaceans4. Frog farming
V. Where a farmer processes, using means normally employed in an agricul-
tural, forestry or fisheries undertaking, products deriving essentially from
his agricultural production, such processing shall also be regarded as agri-
cultural production1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 79
▼B
ANNEXB
LISTOFAGRICULTURALSERVICES
Supplies of agricultural services which normally play a part in agricultural
production shall be considered the supply of agricultural services, and include
the following in particular:
— field work, reaping and mowing, threshing, baling, collecting, harvesting,
sowing and planting
— packing and preparation for market, for example drying, cleaning, grinding,
disinfecting and ensilage of agricultural products
— storage of agricultural products
— stock minding, rearing and fattening
— hiring out, for agricultural purposes, of equipment normally used in agricul-
tural, forestry or fisheries undertakings
— technical assistance— destruction of weeds and pests, dusting and spraying of crops and land— operation of irrigation and drainage equipment
— lopping, tree felling and other forestry services1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 80
▼B
ANNEXC (1)
COMMONMETHODOFCALCULATION
I. For the purposes of calculating the value added for all agricultural, forestry
and fisheries undertakings, the following shall be taken into account exclu-
sive of value added tax:
1. the value of the total final production including farmers own consump-
tion of the classes ‘agricultural products and game’ and ‘wood in the
rough’ as set out in points IV and V below, plus the output of the
processing activities referred to in point V of Annex A;
2. the value of the total inputs required to achieve the production referred
to in (1);
3. the value of the gross fixed-asset formation in connection with the activ-
ities listed in Annexes A and B.
II. To determine the deductible taxable inputs and outputs of flat-rate farmers,
the inputs and outputs of farmers taxed under the normal value added tax
scheme shall be deducted from the national accounts, taking into account
the same factors as those in paragraph I.
III. The value added for flat-rate farmers is equal to the difference between the
value of total final production, exclusive of value added tax, as referred to
in point I (1), and the total value of inputs as referred to in point I (2)
together with gross fixed-asset formation as referred to in point I (3). All
these factors relate to flat-rate farmers only.
IV. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND GAME
SOECcodenumber
Cereals(excludingrice)
Wheat and spelt 10.01.11
10.01.191
1
Winter vheat and spelt —
Spring wheat —
Durum wheat 10.01.51
10.01.59
Winter wheat —Spring wheat —
Rye and meslin
Rye 10.02.00
Winter rye —Spring rye —
Meslin 10.01.11
10.01.192
2
Barley 10.03.10
10.03.90
Spring barley —
Winter barley —
Oats and summer meslin
Oats 10.04.10
10.04.90
Summer meslin —
Maize 10.05.10
10.05.92
Other cereals (excluding rice)
Buckwheat 10.07.101977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 81
(1) The classification used in this Annex is that used in the Economic Accounts for Agri-
culture of the Statistical Office of the European communities (SOEC).
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Millet 10.07.91
Grain sorghum 10.07.95Canary seed 10.07.96Cereals, not elsewhere specified (excluding rice) 10.07.99
Rice(inthehuskorpaddy) 10.06.11
Pulses
Dried peas and fodder peas 07.05.11
Dried peas (other than for fodder) —
Dried peas (excluding chick peas) —
Chick peas —Fodder peas —
Haricot beans, broad and field beans
Haricot beans 07.05.15Broad and field beans 07.05.95
Other pulses
Lentils 07.05.91
Vetches 12.03.31 2Lupins 12.03.49 2Dried pulses not elsewhere specified, pulse mixtures
and cereal and pulse mixtures07.05.97
Roots(brassicasgroupforfodder)
Potatoes
Potatoes (excluding seed potatoes)
New potatoes 07.01.13
07.01.15
Main crop potatoes 07.01.17
07.01.19
Seed potatoes 07.01.11
Sugar beet 12.04.11
Mangolds and fodder beet; swedes, fodder carrots and
fodder turnips; other roots and fodder brassicas
Mangolds and fodder beet/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15012.10.10Swedes, fodder carrots, fodder turnips
Swedes
Fodder carrots, fodder turnipsFodder cabbages and kales 12.10.99 2Other roots and fodder brassicas
Jerusalem artichokes 07.06.10
Sweet potatoes 07.06.50
Roots and fodder brassicas not elsewhere speci-
fied07.06.30
12.10.993
Industrialcrops
Oil seeds and oleaginous fruit (excluding olives)
Colza and rape seed 12.01.91
Winter colza —
Summer colza —
Rape —1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 82
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Sunflower seed 12.01.95
Soya beans 12.01.40Castor seed 12.01.50Linseed 12.01.61
12.01.69
Sesame, hemp, mustard and poppy seed
Sesame seed 12.01.97Hemp seed 12.01.94
Mustard seed 12.01.92
Oil poppy and poppy seed 12.01.93
Fibre plants
Flax 54.01.10Hemp 57.01.10
Unmanufactured tobacco (including dried tobacco) 24.01.10
24.01.90
Hops 12.06.00Other industrial crops
Chicory roots 12.05.00Medicinal plants, aromatics, spices and plants for
perfume extraction
Saffron 09.10.31
Caraway 07.01.82
Medicinal plants, aromatics, spices and plants for
perfume extraction not elsewhere specified09.09 (11-13-15-17-18)
09.10 (11-20-51-55-71)
12.07 (10-20-30-40-50-
60-70-80-91-99)
Freshvegetables
Cabbages for human consumption
Cauliflowers 07.01.21
07.01.22
Other cabbages
Brussels sprouts 07.01.26White cabbages/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15007.01.23Red cabbages
Savoy cabbages/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15007.01.27 1 Green cabbages
Cabbages not elsewhere specified
Leaf and stalk vegetables other than cabbages
Celery and celeriac 07.01.51
07.01.53
07.01.972
Leeks 07.01.68
Cabbage lettuces 07.01.31
07.01.33
Endives 07.01.36 1Spinach07.01.29Asparagus 07.01.71Witloof chicory 07.01.34Artichokes 07.01.73
Other leaf and stalk vegetables1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 83
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Corn salad 07.01.36 2
Cardoons and edible thistle 07.01.37
Fennel 07.01.91
Rhubarb/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15007.01.97 1Cress
ParsleyBroccoli
Leaf and stalk vegetables not elsewhere specified
Vegetables grown for fruit
Tomatoes 07.01.75
07.01.77
Cucumbers and gherkins 07.01.83
07.01.85
Melons 08.09.10Aubergines, marrows and pumpkins, courgettes 07.01.95
Sweet capsicum 07.01.93
Other vegetables grown for fruit 07.01.97 3
Root and tuber crops
Kohlrabi 07.01.27 2Turnips/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15007.01.54Carrots
Garlic 07.01.67Onions and shallots 07.01 (62-63-66)
Beetroot (red beet)/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15007.01.56
07.01.59Salsify and scorzonera
Other root and tuber crops (chives, radishes, French
turnips, horse radishes)
Pod vegetables
Green peas 07.01.41
07.01.43
Beans 07.01.45
07.01.47
Other pod vegetables 07.01.49
Cultivated mushrooms 07.01.87
Fresh fruit, including citrus fruit (excluding grapes
andolives)
Dessert apples and pears
Dessert apples 08.06 (13-15-17)Dessert pears 08.06 (36-38)
Cider apples and perry pears
Cider apples 08.06.11
Perry pears 08.06.32
Stone fruit
Peaches 08.07.32
Apricots 08.07.10
Cherries 08.07 (51-55)1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 84
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Plums (including greengages, mirabelles and
quetsches)08.07 (71-75)
Other stone fruit 08.07.90
Nuts
Walnuts 08.05.31
Hazelnuts 08.05.91
Almonds 08.05.11
08.05.19
Chestnuts 08.05.50
Other nuts (excluding tropical nuts)
Pistaches 08.05.70Nuts not elsewhere specified 08.05.97 1
Other tree fruits
Figs 08.03.10
Quinces 08.06.50
Other tree fruits, not elsewhere specified (excluding
tropical fruit)08.09.90 1
Strawberries 08.08 (11-15)
Berries
Blackcurrants and red currants
Blackcurrants 08.08.41Red currants 08.08.49 1
Raspberries
Gooseberries 08.08.90 1
Other berries (e.g. cultivated blackberries) 08.09.90 2
Citrus fruit
Oranges 08.02 (21-22-24-27)
Mandarins and clementines 08.02 (32-36)
Lemons 08.02.50
Grapefruit 08.02.70
Other citrus fruit 08.02.90
Citrons —Limes —Bergamots —Citrus fruit not elsewhere specified —
Grapesandolives
Grapes
Table grapes 08.04 (21-23)
Other grapes (for wine-making, fruit juice produc-
tion and processing into raisins)08.04 (25-27)
Olives
Table olives 07.01.78
Other olives (for olive oil production) 07.01.79
07.03.13
Othercropproducts
Fodder crops (
1) 12.10.99 1
Nursery products1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 85
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Fruit trees and bushes 06.02 (19-40-51-55)
Vine slips 06.02 (10-30)
Ornamental trees and shrubs 06.02 (71-75-79-98)
Forest seedlings and cuttings 06.02.60
Vegetable materials used primarily for plaiting
Osier, rushes, rattans 14.01 (11-19-51-59)
Reeds, bamboos 14.01 (31-39)
Other vegetable materials used primarily for plaiting 14.01.90
Flowers, ornamental plants and Christmas trees
Flower bulbs, corms and tubers 06.01.10
Ornamental plants 06.01 (31-39)
Cut flowers, branches and foliage 06.03 (11-15-90)
06.04 (20-40-0)
Christmas trees 06.04.90
Perennial plants 06.02.92
Seeds
Agricultural seeds (1) 06.02.95
12.03 (11-19-35-39-44-
46-84-86-89)
12.03.31 1
12.03.49 1
Flower seeds 12.03.81
Products gathered in the wild(3) 07.01 (88 — 89)
08.05.97 2
08.08.3108.08.35
08.08.49 2
08.08.90 2
23.06.10 1
By-products from cultivation of: (
4)
Cereals (excluding rice) 12.08 (10 — 31)
12.08.90
12.09.00
13.03.12
14.02 (10-21-23-25-29)
14.03.00
14.04.00
14.05 (11 — 19)
15.16.10
23.06.10
23.06.30
13.01.00
Rice
Pulses
Root crops
Industrial crops
Freshvegetables
Fruit and citrus fruit 2
Grapes and olives
Other crops1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 86
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Crop products not elsewhere specified
Grapemustandwine
Grape must 22.04.00Wine 22.05 (21-25-31-35-41-
44-45-47-51-57-
59-61-69)
By-products of wine production (
5) 23.05.00
Oliveoil
Pure olive oil (6) 15.07.06
Olive oil, unrefined (6) 15.07 (07 — 08)
By-products of olive oil extraction (7) 23.04.05
Cattle
Domestic cattle 01.02 (11-13-14-15-17)
Calves —Other cattle, less than one year old —
Heifers —
Cows —Male breeding animals
One to two years old —
More than two years old —
Cattle for slaughtering and fattening
One to two years old —
More than two years old —
Pigs
Domestic pigs 01.03 (11 — 15 — 17)
Piglets —Young pigs —
Pigs for fattening —
Sows and gilts for breeding —Breeding boars —
Equines
Horses 01.01 (11 — 15 — 19)Donkeys 01.01.31Mules and hinnies 01.01.50
Sheepandgoats
Domestic sheep 01.04 (11 — 13)Domestic goats 01.04.15
Poultry,rabbits,pigeonsandotheranimals
Hens, cocks, cockerels, pullets, chicks 01.05 (10 — 91)1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 87
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Ducks 01.05.93
Geese 01.05.95Turkeys 01.05.97Guinea fowl 01.05.98
Domestic rabbits 01.06.10
Domestic pigeons 01.06.30Other animals
Bees —Silkworms —Animals reared for fur —
Snails (excluding sea-snails) 03.03.66
Animals not elsewhere specified 01.06.99
02.04.991
Gameandgamemeat
Game (
8) 01.01.39
01.02.90
01.03.90
01.04.90
01.06.91
Game meat 02.04.30
Milk,untreated
Cows' milk —Ewes' milk —Goats' milk —Buffalo milk —
Eggs
Hens' eggs
Hatching eggs 04.05.12 1
Other 04.05.14
Other eggs
Hatching eggs 04.05.12 2Other 04.05.16
04.05.18
Otherlivestockproducts
Raw wool (including animal hair (
9) 53.01 (10 — 20)
53.02 (93 — 95)
Honey 04.06.00
Silkworm cocoons 50.01.00By-products of livestock production (
10)/C148/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C149/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C147/C15015.15.10
43.01. (10 — 20 — 30
— 90)
53.02.97Livestock products not elsewhere specified1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 88
▼B
SOECcodenumber
Agriculturalservices (11)
Agriculturalproductsalmostexclusivelyimported
Tropical oil seeds and oleaginous fruit
Groundnuts 12.01.11
12.01.15
Copra 12.01.20
Palm nuts and kernels 12.01.30
Cotton seed 12.01.96
Oil seeds and oleaginous fruit not elsewhere speci-
fied12.01.99
Tropical fibre plants
Cotton 55.01.00
Other fibre plants
Manila hemp 57.02.00
Jute 57.03.10
Sisal 57.04.10Coir 57.04.30Ramie 54.02.00Fibre plants, not elsewhere specified 57.04.50
Other tropical plants for industrial use
Coffee 09.01.11
Cocoa 18.01.00
Sugar cane 12.04.30
Tropical fruit
Tropical nuts
Coconuts 08.01.75Cashew nuts 08.01.77
Brazil nuts 08.01.80
Pecans 08.05.80
Other tropical fruit
Dates 08.01.10Bananas 08.01 (31 — 35)Pineapples 08.01.50
Papaws 08.08.50
Tropical fruit, not elsewhere specified 08.01 (60 — 99)
Ivory, unpolished 05.10.00
(1) E.g. hay, clover (excluding brassicas).
(2) Excluding cereal seeds, rice seeds and seed potatoes.
(3) E.g. wild mushrooms, cranberries, bilberries, blackberries, wild raspberries, etc.
(4) E.g. straw, beet and cabbage tops, pea and bean husks.
(5) E.g. wine lees, argol, etc.
(6) The distinction between these two products is based on the method of processing
rather than on different production stages.
(7) E.g. olive oil cakes and other residual products of olive oil extraction.
(8) Live game includes only specially reared game and other game kept in captivity.
(9) If it is a principal product.
(10) E.g. skins and animal hair and pelts of slaughtered game, wax, manure, liquid
manure.
(11) I.e. services which are normally provided by agricultural holdings themselves,
e.g. ploughing, mowing and reaping threshing, tobacco drying, sheep-shearing,care of animals.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 89
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V. WOOD IN THE ROUGH
Coniferous timber for industrial uses
Coniferous long timber
— 1. logs
(1) fir, spruce, douglas(2) pine, larch
— 2. mine timber
(1) fir, spruce, douglas(2) pine, larch
— 3. other long timber
(1) fir, spruce, douglas(2) pine, larch
Coniferous plywood
— 1 fir, spruce, douglas
— 2 pine, larchConiferous firewood
Fir, spruce, douglas
Pine, larch
Leaf-wood for industrial uses
Long timber (leaf-wood)
— 1. logs
(1) oak(2) beech(3) poplar
(4) other
— 2. mine timber
(1) oak
(2) other
— 3. other long timber
(1) oak(2) beech
(3) poplar
(4) other
Plywood (leaf)
— 1. oak
— 2. beech— 3. poplar— 4. other
Firewood (leaf)
oakbeech
poplar
otherForestry services(
1)
Other products (e.g. bark, cork, resin)1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 90
(1) I.e. services which are usually performed by forestry undertakings themselves (e.g.
felling of timber).
▼B
ANNEXD
LIST OF THE ACTIVITIES REFERRED TO IN THE THIRD PARA-
GRAPHOFARTICLE4(5)
1. Telecommunications
2. The supply of water, gas, electricity and steam
3. The transport of goods
4. Port and airport services5. Passenger transport6. Supply of new goods manufactured for sale
7. The transactions of agricultural intervention agencies in respect of agricul-
tural products carried out pursuant to Regulations on the common
organization of the market in these products
8. The running of trade fairs and exhibitions9. Warehousing
10. The activities of commercial publicity bodies
11. The activities of travel agencies12. The running of staff shops, cooperatives and industrial canteens and similar
institutions
13. Transactions other than those specified in Article 13 A (1) (q), of radio and
television bodies1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 91
▼B
ANNEXE
TRANSACTIONSREFERREDTOINARTICLE28(3)(A)
1.►M3 ◄
2. Transactions referred to in Article 13 A (1) (e)
3.►M3 ◄
4.►M3 ◄
5.►M3 ◄
6.►M3 ◄
7. Transactions referred to in Article 13 A (1) (q)8.►
M3 ◄
9.►M3 ◄
10.►M3 ◄
11. Supplies covered by Article 13 B (g) in so far as they are made by taxable
persons who were entitled to deduction of input tax on the building
concerned
12.►M3 ◄
13.►M3 ◄
14.►M3 ◄
15. The services of travel agents referred to in Article 26, and those of travel
agents acting in the name and on account of the traveller, for journeys
outside the Community1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 92
▼B
ANNEXF
TRANSACTIONSREFERREDTOINARTICLE28(3)(B)
1. Admission to sporting events
2. Services supplied by authors, artists, performers, lawyers and other
members of the liberal professions, other than the medical and paramedical
professions, in so far as these are not services specified in Annex B to the
second Council Directive of 11 April 1967
3.►M3 ◄
4.►M3 ◄
5. Telecommunications services supplied by public postal services and
supplies of goods incidental thereto
6. Services supplied by undertakers and cremation services, together with
goods related thereto
7. Transactions carried out by blind persons or workshops for the blind
provided these exemptions do not give rise to significant distortion of
competition
8. The supply of goods and services to official bodies responsible for the
construction, setting out and maintenance of cemeteries, graves and monu-
ments commemorating war dead
9.►M3 ◄
10. Transactions of hospitals not covered by Article 13 A (1) (b)
11.►M3 ◄
12. The supply of water by public authorities13.►
M3 ◄
14.►M3 ◄
15.►M3 ◄
16. Supplies of those buildings and land described in Article 4 (3)17. Passenger transport
The transport of goods such as luggage or motor vehicles accompanying
passengers and the supply of services related to the transport of passengers,
shall only be exempted in so far as the transport of the passengers them-
selves is exempt
18.►
M3 ◄
19.►M3 ◄
20.►M3 ◄
21.►M3 ◄
22.►M3 ◄
23. The supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring of
aircraft, including equipment incorporated or used therein, used by State
institutions
24.►M3 ◄
25. The supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring of
warships
27. The services of travel agents referred to in Article 26, and those of travel
agents acting in the name and on account of the traveller, for journeys
within the Community1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 93
▼M13
▼B
▼B
ANNEXG
RIGHTOFOPTION
1. The right of option referred to in Article 28 (3) (c) may be granted in the
following circumstances:
(a) in the case of transactions specified in Annex E:
Member States which already exempt these supplies but also give right
of option for taxation, may maintain this right of option
(b) in the case of transactions specified in Annex F:
Member States which provisionally maintain the right to exempt such
supplies may grant taxable persons the right to opt for taxation.
2. Member States already granting a right of option for taxation not covered by
the provisions of paragraph 1 above may allow taxpayers exercising it to
maintain it until at the latest the end of three years from the date the Direc-
tive comes into force.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 94
▼M5
ANNEXH
LIST OF SUPPLIES OF GOODS AND SERVICES WHICH MAY BE
SUBJECTTOREDUCEDRATESOFVAT
In transposing the categories below which refer to goods into national legisla-
tion, Member States may use the combined nomenclature to establish the
precise coverage of the category concerned.
Category Description
1 Foodstuffs (including beverages but excluding alcoholic
beverages) for human and animal consumption; live animals,
seeds, plants and ingredients normally intended for use in
preparation of foodstuffs; products normally intended to be
used to supplement or substitute foodstuffs
2 Water supplies
3 Pharmaceutical products of a kind normally used for health
care, prevention of diseases and treatment for medical and
veterinary purposes, including products used for contraception
and sanitary protection
4 Medical equipment, aids and other appliances normally
intended to alleviate or treat disability, for the exclusive
personal use of the disabled, including the repair of such goods,
and children's car seats
5 Transport of passengers and their accompanying luggage
6 Supply, including on loan by libraries, of books (including
brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, children's picture,
drawing or colouring books, music printed or in manuscript,
maps and hydrographic or similar charts), newspapers and peri-
odicals, other than material wholly or substantially devoted to
advertising matter
7 Admissions to shows, theatres, circuses, fairs, amusement parks,
concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and similar
cultural events and facilities
Reception of broadcasting services
8 Services supplied by or royalties due to writers, composers and
performing artists
9 Supply, construction, renovation and alteration of housing
provided as part of a social policy
10 Supplies of goods and services of a kind normally intended for
use in agricultural production but excluding capital goods such
as machinery or buildings
11 Accommodation provided by hotels and similar establishments
including the provision of holiday accomodation (SCI! accom-
modation) and the letting of camping sites and caravan parks
12 Admission to sporting events
13 Use of sporting facilities
14 Supply of goods and services by organizations recognized as
charities by Member States and engaged in welfare or social
security work, insofar as these supplies are not exempt under
Article 13
15 Services supplied by undertakers and cremation services,
together with the supply of goods related thereto
16 Provision of medical and dental care as well as thermal treat-
ment in so far as these services are not exempt under Article 13
17 Services supplied in connection withstreet cleaning, refuse
collection and waste treatment, other than the supply of such
services by bodies referred to in Article 4 (5)1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 95
▼M8
ANNEXI
WORKSOFART,COLLECTORS'ITEMSANDANTIQUES
For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘works of art’ shall mean:
— pictures, collages and similar decorative plaques, paintings and draw-
ings, executed entirely by hand by the artist, other than plans and
drawings for architectural, engineering, industrial, commercial, topogra-
phical or similar purposes, hand-decorated manufactured articles,
theatrical scenery, studio back cloths or the like of painted canvas (CN
code 9701),
— original engravings, prints and lithographs, being impressions produced
in limited numbers directly in black and white or in colour of one or of
several plates executed entirely by hand by the artist, irrespective of the
process or of the material employed by him, but not including any
mechanical or photomechanical process (CN code 97020000),
— original sculptures and statuary, in any material, provided that they are
executed entirely by the artist; sculpture casts the production of which is
limited to eight copies and supervised by the artist or his successors in
title (CN code 9703 0000); on an exceptional basis, in cases determined
by the Member States, the limit of eight copies may be exceeded for
statuary casts produced before 1 January 1989,
— tapestries (CN code 58050000) and wall textiles (CN code 6304 0000)
made by hand from original designs provided by artists, provided that
there are not more than eight copies of each,
— individual pieces of ceramics executed entirely by the artist and signed
by him,
— enamels on copper, executed entirely by hand, limited to eight numbered
copies bearing the signature of the artist or the studio, excluding articles
of jewellery and goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares,
— photographs taken by the artist, printed by him or under his supervision,
signed and numbered and limited to 30 copies, all sizes and mounts
included;
(b) ‘collectors' items’ shall mean:
— postage or revenue stamps, postmarks, first-day covers, pre-stamped
stationary and the like, franked, or if unfranked not being of legal tender
and not being intended for use as legal tender (CN code 97040000),
— collections and collectors' pieces of zoological, botanical, mineralogical,
anatomical, historical, archaeological, palaetological, ethnographic or
numismatic interest ( CN code 97050000);
(c) ‘antiques’ shall mean objects other than works of art or collectors' items,
which are more than 100 years old (CN code 97060000).1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 96
▼M10
ANNEXJ
Description of goods CN code
Tin 8001
Copper 7402
740374057408
Zinc 7901Nickel 7502Aluminium 7601Lead 7801Indium ex 811291
ex 811299
Cereals 1001 to 1005
1006: unprocessed rice only1007 to 1008
Oil seeds and oleaginous fruit 1201 to 1207Coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashew nuts 0801Other nuts 0802Olives 071120Grains and seeds (including soya beans 1201 to 1207Coffee, not roasted 09011100
09011200
Tea 0902
Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted 1801
Raw sugar 170111
170112
Rubber, in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip 4001
4002
Wool 5101Chemicals in bulk Chapters28and29
Mineral oils (including propane and butane; also including crude
petroleum oils)2709
2710271112
271113
Silver 7106Platinum (palladium, rhodium) 71101100
71102100711031001977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 97
▼M10
Description of goods CN code
Potatoes 0701
Vegetable oils and fats and their fractions, whether or not refined,
but not chemically modified1507 to 15151977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 98
▼M16
ANNEXK
Listofsuppliesofservicesreferred toinArticle28(6)
1. Small services of repairing:
— bicycles,
— shoes and leather goods,— clothing and household linen (including mending and alteration).
2. Renovation and repairing of private dwellings, excluding materials which
form a significant part of the value of the supply.
3. Window cleaning and cleaning in private households.
4. Domestic care services (e.g. home help and care of the young, elderly, sick
or disabled).
5. Hairdressing.1977L0388 — EN — 01.07.2003 — 007.001 — 99