2000/91/EC: Council Decision of 24 January 2000 authorising the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden to apply a measure derogating from Article 17 of the Sixth Council Directive (77/338/EEC) on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes
Date: 2000-01-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Denmark, Sweden, VAT, derogation from EU law, tax relief

L 28/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

3. 2. 2000

COUNCIL DECISION

of 24 January 2000

authorising the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of Sweden to apply a measure derogating
from Article 17 of the Sixth Council Directive (77/338/EEC) on the harmonisation of the laws of
the Member States relating to turnover taxes

(2000/91/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(7)

Having regard to the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17
May 1997 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member
States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value
added tax: uniform basis of assessment (1), and in particular
Article 27 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

(8)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

under Article 27(1) of Directive 77/388/EEC the
Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the
Commission, may authorise any Member State to intro-
duce or extend special measures derogating from the
provisions of the Directive to simplify the procedure for
charging the tax or prevent certain types of tax evasion
or avoidance;

the Governments of the Kingdom of Denmark and the
Kingdom of Sweden have requested authorisation to
apply a measure derogating from Article 17 of Directive
77/388/EEC;

the other Member States were informed of the requests
from the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kingdom of
Sweden on 3 September 1999;

these requests relate to the VAT arrangements applying
to the operation of the Öresund fixed link between
Denmark and Sweden, and in particular to the recovery
of VAT paid on tolls for the use of the link. Under the
rules of territoriality, part of the VAT on tolls is payable
to the Kingdom of Denmark and part to the Kingdom of
Sweden;

in derogation from the provisions of Article 17, as
amended by Article 28f, requiring taxable persons to
exercise their right to deduct or obtain a refund of VAT
in the Member State where it was paid, the Swedish and
Danish authorities intend to introduce a special measure
enabling taxpayers to recover VAT from a single admin-
istration;

(6)

the intended measure fulfils the conditions laid down in
its
Article 27 of Directive 77/388/EEC by virtue of

limited scope and the fact that it is intended to simplify
matters;

on 17 June 1998 the Commission presented a proposal
for a Council Directive (2) amending Directive 77/
388/EEC as regards the rules governing the right to
deduct value added tax, adoption of which would render
the special measures unnecessary in the majority of
cases, which involve taxable persons established in the
Community;

authorisation should therefore be granted until the new
Directive enters into force. However, the authorisation
shall expire on 31 December 2002 at the latest if the
Directive has not entered into force on that date, thereby
enabling the need for the derogation to be reviewed at
that time in the light of the Council's discussions on the
said proposal for a Directive;

(9)

the derogation does not adversely affect
the own
resources derived by the European Communities from
value added tax,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

By way of derogation from Article 17(2), (3) and (4) of the
Directive 77/388/EEC, as amended by Article 28f thereof, the
Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Denmark are hereby
authorised to apply the following procedure for the recovery of
VAT on tolls paid for the use of
the Öresund fixed link
between the two countries:

— taxable persons established in Denmark may exercise their
right to deduct that VAT paid when using the part of the
link located on Swedish territory by entering it in the
periodic returns to be lodged in Denmark;

— taxable persons established in Sweden may exercise their
right to deduct the VAT paid when using the part of the
link located on Danish territory by entring it in the periodic
returns to be loged in Sweden;

— taxable persons who are not established in either of the
above Member States must apply to the Swedish authorities
to obtain refunds of the VAT on tolls, including that paid
for using the section of the link located on Danish territory
under the procedure laid down in Directive 79/1072/EEC
or Directive 86/650/EEC.

(1) OJ L 145, 13.6.1997, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive

99/59/EC (OJ L 162, 26.6.1999, p. 63).

(2) OJ C 219, 15.7.1998, p. 16.

3. 2. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 28/39

This authorisation shall expire on the date of entry into force of Community rules determining the
expenditure not eligible for the deduction of value added tax, in accordance with the first subparagraph of
Article 17(6) of Directive 77/388/EEC, and by 31 December 2002 at the latest.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Article 3

Done at Brussels, 24 January 2000.

For the Council

The President

J. GAMA