Council Regulation (EC) No 37/2009 of 16 December 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 on administrative cooperation in the field of value added tax, in order to combat tax evasion connected with intra-Community transactions
Date: 2008-12-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: VAT, administrative formalities, domestic market, fraud, intra-EU trade, tax evasion

20.1.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 14/1

(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

I

REGULATIONS

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 37/2009

of 16 December 2008

amending Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 on administrative cooperation in the field of value added
tax, in order to combat tax evasion connected with intra-Community transactions

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(3)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 93 thereof,

establishing the European

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 European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

To combat VAT evasion more effectively, it is imperative
that the Member States collect and exchange information
on intra-Community transactions as rapidly as possible.
A period of one month is the most appropriate response
to this need, taking account of businesses′ accounting
and financial periods and the objectives of reducing the
administrative burden on businesses.

In view of the amendments to the period for declaring
intra-Community transactions made by Council Directive
2008/117/EC of 16 December 2008 amending Directive
2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax
to combat tax evasion connected with intra-Community
transactions (3), it is necessary to amend the references to
that period in Council Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 (4).

(1) Opinion of 4.12.2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(2) Opinion of 22.10.2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(3) See page 7 of this Official Journal.
(4) OJ L 264, 15.10.2003, p. 1.

Since the objectives of the proposed action to tackle VAT
evasion cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member
States, whose action in the matter depends on infor­
mation collected by the other Member States, and can
therefore, by reason of the need to involve all Member
States, be better achieved at Community level,
the
Community may adopt measures,
in accordance with
the principle of subsidiarity, as set out in Article 5 of
the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of propor­
tionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does
not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve
those objectives.

(4)

Since the amendments contained in this Regulation are
necessary to adapt Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 to the
measures provided for in Directive 2008/117/EC, with
which the Member States have to comply by 1 January
2010, this Regulation must enter into force on the same
date.

(5)

Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 should therefore be
amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 is hereby amended as follows:

Article 1

1.

in Article 23, the second paragraph shall be replaced by the
following:

information and shall

‘The values referred to in point 2 of the first paragraph shall
be expressed in the currency of the Member State providing
the
for
submission of the recapitulative statements specific to each
taxable person which are established in accordance with
Article 263 of Directive 2006/112/EC.’;

to the periods

relate

L 14/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.1.2009

2. In Article 24, the second paragraph shall be replaced by the

following:

it shall do so as soon as possible and, at the latest,
24,
within one month of the end of the period to which the
information relates.

information and shall

‘The values referred to in point 2 of the first paragraph shall
be expressed in the currency of the Member State providing
the
for
submission of the recapitulative statements specific to each
taxable person which are established in accordance with
Article 263 of Directive 2006/112/EC.’;

to the periods

relate

2.
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where infor­
mation is added to a database in the circumstances provided
for in Article 22, access to such additional information shall
be granted as quickly as possible and no later than one
month after the end of the period in which it was collected.’.

3. Article 25(1) and (2) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1. Where the competent authority of a Member State is
obliged to grant access to information under Articles 23 and

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2010.

Article 2

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 16 December 2008.

For the Council
The President

R. BACHELOT-NARQUIN