What a Customs Lawyer Should Know about EU Value Added Tax (VAT) Law

Abstract

It is a widely held belief that persons handling imports and exports mainly need to know customs legislation and the rules on import/export prohibitions. However, insofar as the financial aspects of import are concerned, the amount of import Value Added Tax (VAT) is normally higher than that of customs duty, given that a high proportion of goods can be imported into the EU duty-free or at low duty rates, whereas for import VAT the standard rate ranges - depending on the Member State concerned - between 15% and 27%. Though VAT - different from customs duty - is intended to be borne by the final consumer and VAT relief is to be granted when goods are exported or brought to another Member State, there are a number of pitfalls which can lead to the result that the importer or exporter or his representative has to bear the burden of VAT. This article describes in a simple way the VAT rules for import (including import followed by an onward delivery to another Member State) and export and explains their link with, or divergence from, the customs rules. In order to facilitate comprehension and to limit the size of this article, not all details of the EU VAT legislation and its implementation by Member States are explained, so that for specific cases individual advice by a specialized lawyer or tax consultant should be sought in the Member State concerned.