ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(81)312
Vol.1981/0101

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)312 final
Brussels.18June1981
Amendments totheproposalfora
COUNCILDIRECTIVE
determining thescopeofArticle14(1)<d)ofDirective 77/388/EEC
asregardsexemptionfromvalueaddedtaxonthefinalimportation
ofcertaingoods
(presentedbytheCommissiontotheCouncilpursuanttothesecond
paragraphofArticle149oftheEECTreaty)
C0M(81)312finalΑ- ^Λ
/εν.
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Introduction
On13June1980,theCommissionsubmittedtotheCouncilaproposal
foradirectivedeterminingthescopeofArticle14(1)(d)ofDirective
77/388/EECasregardsexemption'from,valueaddedtaxonthefinalimportation
ofcertaingoods<D*TheEconomicandSocialCommitteeandtheEuropean
Parliamentdeliveredtheiropinionsontheproposalrespectively on24Sep­
tember1980(2).and13February1981(3)*Bothoftheseopinionswerefavou­
rableandwelcomedtheCommission'sinitiativeinthisarea*Certainspecific
pointswereraisedintheopinionsandamendmentsoftheoriginalproposal
requested *TheCommissionhasnowconsideredthesepointsandamends:the
proposalwhereappropriate *InmakingtheseamendmentstheCommissionisalso
consciousoftheevolutionoftheworkoftheCouncilontheparallelproposal
foraregulationoncustomsdutyreliefs(4)*However,.asanagreedtextof/
theproposedregulationhasnotyetemerged,itconsidersthatitwouldbe
prematuretoamendthetaxtexttotakeaccountofdevelopments inthisarea*
Thisdoesnotindicateanunwillingness onthepartoftheCommissiontomain­
taintheclose,parallelism betweenthetwotexts* *
Commentsonthespecificamendmentsproposed
Article17 ^ ^
TheCommissionconsidersthatthisarticleasoriginallydraftedis
toorestrictive inthelightofrecentexperiencegainedinrelationtothe
unfortunatedisastersinMemberStates,and,inparticular,theItalianearth­
quakedisaster*.Consequentlyitproposesawideningofthescopeofthere­
lieftocovergoodsimportedbynationalorganizations -andbydisasterrelief
agencies* . '
(1)0Jn°C171;11*7*1980,p*8
(2)0Jn°C300;18*11*1980,p,11
(3)0Jn°C50;9*3*1981,p*106
(4)Doe*C0M<79)104final,14March1979*

-2-
Article24
Theamendmentisdesignedtoenablefuelinthetanksofmotor
vehiclesspeciallyadaptedtorunongastobenefitfromtaxexemption *
Article25
Thisamendment,requestedbyParliament,isdesignedtoallow
samplesofnon-negligible valuebeingimportedfromaMemberStatetobenefit
fromtaxexemption *Theeffectistoputtheseimportedsamplesonanequal
footingwithsamplesusedonthedomesticmarketofaMemberStateandis
fullyinlinewiththeobjectivespursuedbythecommonVATsystem*
Article26
Theaimoftheamendment,whichisinlinewiththeopinionofthe
EconomicandSocialCommittee,istoextendthetaxexemptionforsmallre­
presentative samplesofgoodsintendedforatradefairorsimilareventto
beerandstillwine*Itisconsideredthattheconditionsattachedtothe,
exemptionunderArticle27ofproposalaresufficiently stricttoavoidabuse*
However,inordertopreservetheparallelism betweentheproposalforacus­
tomsregulation andthetaxproposal,theCommission wouldprefernottoex­
tendtherelieftoimportsfromthirdcountries *
Articles39and40
Article39isamendedinordertomakeitfullyclearthatitope­
ratesinconjunction withArticle40(asamended)*Taxexemptionshouldbe
allowedwhereeitherthevalueofeligiblegoodsislessthan10Ecus^rthe
amountofVATdueonthematimportationislessthan3Ecus*BoththePar­
liamentandtheCommitteeconsideredthatthelimitof10EcusinArticle39
wastoolowandcalledforafigureof20Ecustobeproposed*TheCommission,
foritspart,considersthatitisnecessarytotreadwarilyinthisfield*
Forobviousreasonsofadministrative simplicityitisnecessarytokeepthe
limitfortaxexemptiononaparwiththatforthecustomsexemptioninthe
caseofimportsfromthirdcountries *

Inintra-Communitytradeitisconsidered moreappropriateto
tackletheproblemfromtheangleoftheamountoftaxpayable.Accordingly
theCommissionisamendingitsproposalsoastomakeobligatorytheexemp­
tionforgoodsonwhichtheVATchargeableislessthan3Ecus.AtaVAT
rateof15%thiscorrespondstoaconsignment valueof20Ecus.
AnamendmentisalsosubmittedallowingMemberStatestoextendthis
relieftoimportsfromthirdcountriesandtoincreasethelimitto6Ecusfor
intra-Community trade.
Article47
ThisadditionalarticleisproposedtoallowexemptionofVATon
finalimportationofseverelydamagedvehicleswhich,beforethedamage
occurred,weretemporarily importedintotheMemberStateconcerned.
Thisisacaseinwhichthereiswidedivergenceofpracticebetween
theMemberStateswhichcancreateseriousdifficulties forindividuals and
motoringorganizations alike.
Itisconsideredthataconditionrequiringthevehicletobe
unusableassuchwouldbetoorestrictive as,inpractice,vehiclesare
writtenoff,byinsurancecompaniesforexample,eventhoughtheymaystill
becapableofbeingusedontheroad.Theproposedconditionrequiringsale
forbreakinguporasscraptoataxablepersonis,therefore,considered
sufficient.

-L-
AmendmentstotheproposalforaCouncilDirectivedetermining the
scopeofArticle14(1)(d)ofDirective77/388/EECasregardsexemp­
tionfromvalueaddedtaxonthefinalimportationofcertaingoods
(SubmittedbytheCommissiontotheCouncilpursuanttothesecond
subparagraph ofArticle149oftheTreaty)
TheCommissionherebyamendsitsproposalasfollows:
1*Article17isreplacedbythefollowing :
"1.InadditiontotherelieflaiddowninArticle15forgoodsimported
forgeneralpurposesforcharitableorphilanthropic organizations,
goodsimportedbynationalorganizations orbycharitableorphilan­
thropicorganizations approvedbythecompetentauthorities shallbe
admittedtax-freewheretheyareintended :
-fordistribution freeofchargetovictimsofdisastersoccurring
ontheterritoryofoneormoreMemberStates,or
-tobemadeavailablefreeofchargetothevictimsofsuchdisas­
ters,whileremainingthepropertyoftheorganizations inquestion*
2.Goodsimportedbydisasterreliefagenciesinordertomeettheir
needsduringtheperiodoftheiractivityshallalsobegrantedre­
liefunderthesameconditions.
3.Thereliefshallbegrantedtoorganizations whichofferallthe
guarantees deemednecessaryandwhichkeepaccountssuchthatthe
competentauthorities areabletochecktheiroperations.
4.Goods,otherthanbasicnecessities ofapersonalnature,admitted
tax-freemaynot,oncetheyceasetobeusedbydisastervictims,
beloaned,hiredoutortransferred,whetherforaconsideration or
freeofcharge,withoutpriornotification thereoftothecompetent
authorities.Insuchcasesthetaxonimportation shallbethatto
whichthegoodsareliableonthebasisofthevalueandtherates
inforceatthetimeofthenotification .

5«•ForthepurposesofthisArticleadisaster"meansanoccurrenceof
mishaphavingrepercussions ofmajorimportanceandincludes,inpar­
ticular,floods,earthquakes andvolcaniceruptionsandtransportor
industrialaccidentscorresponding tothiscriterion*"
ThefollowingisaddedtoArticle24(2)(c):
"Tanksfittedtomotorvehicleswhichenablegastobeuseddirectlyas
afuelforthevehicleshallalsobeconsidered asstandardtanks*"
Thefollowingparagraphisaddedta-Article 25:
"3*Wheresamplesaresuppliedfreeofchargetoataxablepersoninthe
MemberStateofimportation byataxablepersoninanotherMember
State,reliefshallnotbeconditional ontheirvaluebeingnegli­
gible." ,
Thefollowingis:addedtoArticle26(2):
"However,thisrestrictionshallnotapplytobeerorstillwineimported
intooneMemberStatefromanother*"
Article39(1)isreplacedbythefollowing :
"WithoutprejudicetotheapplicationofArticle40,goodscontainedin
smallconsignments of,atotalvalueatimportation notexceeding10ECU
shallbeadmittedtax-free*"
Article40isreplacedbythefollowing : , ■
"1*GoodsbeingimportedintooneMemberStatefromanotherinrespect
ofwhichnoexcisedutiesortaxesotherthanvalueaddedtaxare
chargeable byvirtueofimportation andinrespectofwhichthe
amountoftaxsochargeabledoesnotexceed3ECUshallbeadmitted
tax-free-

-6-
2*MemberStatesma)'extendthisrelieftoimportsfromthirdcountries *
3„MemberStatesmayincreasethelimitof3ECUinparagraph 1to
6ECUinrespectofimportsfromotherMemberStates"*
7«ThefollowingchapterandarticleareaddedtoTitleXII:
"ChapterVI-Severelydamagedvehicles
Article47
1*Vehiclesregistered inaMemberStateoftheCommunitywhichhave
beenseverelydamagedasaresultofadulysubstantiated accident
occurringontheterritoryoftheMemberStateintowhichtheyhad
beentemporarily importedshallbeadmittedtax-free*
2*Inordertobenefitfromthereliefthegoodsmustbesoldtoa
taxablepersonforthepurposesofscraporforbreakingup*
3*Proofoftheaccidentmustbefurnishedtothecompetentauthorities
bythepersonstandingtobenefitfromtherelief,,"
8.Articles47to50arerenumbered 48to51*