Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 79/2012 of 31 January 2012 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Council Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 concerning administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of value added tax (recast)

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for implementing Articles 14, 17(1)(f), 21(2)(e), 21(2a)(d), 21a(1) and (2), 32, 48, 49 and Article 51(1) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010.

Article 2

Categories of information to be exchanged without prior request

The categories of information subject to automatic exchange, in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010, shall be the following:

(1) information on non-established traders;

(2) information on new means of transport.

Article 3

Subcategories of information to be exchanged without prior request

In respect of non-established traders the information subject to automatic exchange shall be the following:

(a) information on the allocation of VAT identification numbers to taxable persons established in another Member State;

(b) information on VAT refunds to taxable persons not established in the Member State of refund but established in another Member State pursuant to Council Directive 2008/9/EC.

In respect of new means of transport, the information subject to automatic exchange shall be the following:

(a) information on supplies exempted in accordance with Article 138(2)(a) of Directive 2006/112/EC, of new means of transport as defined in Article 2(2), (a) and (b)of that Directive, by persons regarded as taxable persons pursuant to Article 9(2) of that Directive who are identified for VAT purposes;

(b) information on supplies exempted in accordance with Article 138(2)(a) of Directive 2006/112/EC, of new vessels and aircraft as defined in Article 2(2), (a) and (b) of that Directive, by taxable persons identified for VAT purposes, other than those referred to in point (a), to persons not identified for VAT purposes;

(c) information on supplies exempted in accordance with Article 138(2)(a) of Directive 2006/112/EC, of new motorised land vehicles as defined in Article 2(2), (a) and (b) of that Directive, by taxable persons identified for VAT purposes, other than those referred to in point (a), to persons not identified for VAT purposes.

Article 4

Notification of abstention from participation in the exchange of information without prior request

By 20 May 2012 each Member State shall notify the Commission in writing of its decision, taken in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010, as to whether it is going to abstain from taking part in the automatic exchange of one or more categories or subcategories of information referred to in Articles 2 and 3 of this Regulation.  Croatia shall notify the Commission of its decision, referred to in the previous sentence, to abstain from taking part in the automatic exchange of information by 1 July 2013. The Commission shall inform the other Member States accordingly of the categories for which a Member State has abstained.

Article 5

Frequency of the transmission of the information

In cases where the automatic exchange system is being used, information concerning the categories and subcategories referred to respectively in Articles 2 and 3 shall be provided as soon as it becomes available, and in any event within 3 months of the end of the calendar quarter during which that information has become available.

Article 5a

Exchange of customs information

Each goods item shall be identified by the following information as required in accordance with Article 226 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447:

(a) the Master Reference Number; and

(b) the customs declaration acceptance date.

Article 5b

Exchange of vehicle registration information

Automated enquiry of vehicle registration data shall take place within a decentralised structure.

The vehicle registration data exchanged via the EUCARIS system shall be transmitted in encrypted form.

The specific version of the software application developed by the EUCARIS nominated party for operation for the automated enquiry of vehicle registration data for the purposes of Article 21a of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 shall be separate from other versions of that software application available in EUCARIS. Automated enquiries shall be conducted in compliance with the requirements for data security and technical conditions of the data exchange referred to in points 2 and 3 of Chapter 3 of the Annex to Council Decision 2008/616/JHA (³). The data elements of the vehicle registration data to be exchanged and the types of enquiry that are permitted shall be as specified in Annex VIII to this Regulation.

Article 5c

Identification of Eurofisc Liaison Officials accessing information collated by the customs authorities, the recapitulative statements collected pursuant to Chapter 6 of Title XI of Directive 2006/112/EC and vehicle registration data

To enable a Member State to identify a Eurofisc liaison official accessing information provided by that Member State under the conditions set out in Article 21(2)(e) or (2a)(d) or Article 21a(2) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010, the following arrangements shall be implemented:

(a) each Member State shall allocate a unique personal user identification to each of its Eurofisc liaison officials;

(b) each Member State shall keep and update promptly a list of the names and unique personal user identifications of each of its Eurofisc liaison officials and shall make the up-to-date list available to the other Member States and the Commission;

(c) each Member State shall ensure that any automated enquiry that it makes of the information referred to in Article 21(2)(e) or (2a)(d) or Article 21a(1) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 contains the unique personal user identification of the Eurofisc liaison official accessing the information.

Article 6

Transmission of communications

Information communicated pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 shall, as far as possible, be transmitted only by electronic means via the CCN/CSI network, with the exception of the following:

(a) the request for notification referred to in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 and the instrument or decision of which notification is requested;

(b) original documents provided pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010.

Article 7

Information to taxable persons

The Commission shall make the web portal referred to in paragraph 1 available for those Member States choosing to publish the following additional information:

(a) the information on storage of invoices listed in Annex II;

(b) the additional electronic coded information required by Member States pursuant to Article 9(2) of Directive 2008/9/EC;

(c) until 31 December 2014 the standard tax rate referred to in the second paragraph of Article 42 of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010;

(d) as from 1 July 2021, the tax rates applicable to supplies of goods and services in accordance with the special schemes provided for in Chapter 6 of Title XII of Directive 2006/112/EC referred to in the second paragraph of Article 47g of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010.

Article 8

Information exchanged in the framework of VAT refund

Where a Member State of refund notifies other Member States that it requires additional electronic coded information as provided for in Article 9(2) of Directive 2008/9/EC, the codes specified in Annex III to this Regulation shall be used for the purposes of transmitting this information.

Article 9

Description relating to the business activity exchanged in the framework of VAT refund

Where a Member State of refund requires a description of the applicants business activity as provided for in Article 11 of Directive 2008/9/EC, such information shall be given at the fourth level of the NACE Rev. 2 codes, as provided for in Article 2(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006.

Article 10

Notification of instruments and decisions relating to a VAT refund

Where a Member State of refund requests a Member State of establishment of an addressee to notify instruments and decisions relating to a refund under Directive 2008/9/EC to the addressee, that notification request may be transmitted via the CCN/CSI network as defined in Article 2(1)(q) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010.

Article 11

Statistical data

The list of statistical data referred to in Article 49(3) of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 is set out in Annex IV.

Each Member State shall, before 30 April each year by electronic means, communicate to the Commission the statistical data referred to in the first paragraph, using the model set out in Annex IV.

Article 12

Communication of national measures

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of any laws, regulations or administrative provisions which they apply in the field covered by this Regulation.

The Commission shall communicate those measures to the other Member States.

Article 13

Repeal

Regulations (EC) No 1925/2004 and (EC) No 1174/2009 are repealed.

References to the repealed Regulations shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex VI.

Article 14

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

ANNEX I

The details on invoicing in accordance with by Article 32 of Regulation (EU) No 904/2010

1. Issuance of invoices

Q1.In what other circumstances are invoices required?

Q2.If required, are the invoices simplified invoices or full invoices?

Q3.Is an invoice required for exempted financial and insurance services?

Q4.If yes, is a simplified or full invoice required?

Q5.For which, if any, exempt supplies is an invoice not required?

2. Time of issue of an invoice

Q6.Is there a time limit for issuing invoices other than that for intra-Community supplies or cross-border supplies of services subject to the reverse charge?

Q7.If yes, by when must an invoice be issued?

3. Summary invoices

Q8.Can summary invoices be issued for supplies becoming chargeable to tax during a period of more than 1 calendar month? This excludes intra-Community supplies and cross-border supplies of services subject to the reverse charge.

Q9.If yes, what is the time period?

4. Self-billed invoices

Q10.Is there a requirement for self-billed invoices to be issued in the name of and behalf of the taxable person making the supply?

5. Outsourcing of invoices to non-EU third parties

Q11.Are any conditions imposed on outsourcing of invoices to third parties established outside the EU?

Q12.If yes, what conditions are imposed?

6. Content of invoices

Q13.Other than for intra-Community supplies of goods or reverse charge supplies is the customer’s VAT identification number required on the invoice?

Q14.If yes, in what circumstances is the customer’s VAT identification number required on an invoice?

Q15.Where the VAT amount is converted to the national currency using the exchange rate from the European Central Bank, is notification required?

Q16.Is a VAT identification number issued if the supplier or customer does not make intra-Community acquisitions, distance sales or intra-Community supplies?

Q17.Where both a VAT identification number and a tax reference number are issued, in what circumstance is one or both required to be mentioned on the invoice?

7. Paper and electronic invoices

Q18.Are there any conditions for electronic invoices issued from a third country?

Q19.If yes, what are those conditions?

8. Simplified invoices

Q20.In what circumstances are simplified invoices allowed?

Q21.What details are required for simplified invoices?

ANNEX II

The information on storage of invoices that Member States may provide via the web portal

Article 245 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC — place of storage

Q1.If the place of storage is outside the Member State, is the notification of the place of storage required?

Q2.If yes, how is this notification to be done?

Q3.Can paper invoices be stored outside the Member State?

Article 247(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC — storage period

Q4.What are the periods of storage for invoices?

Article 247(2) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC — form of storage

Q5.Can paper invoices be stored electronically?

Q6.Can electronic invoices be stored in paper form?

Q7.Must the data guaranteeing the authenticity of the origin and integrity of the content of invoices stored electronically be kept in the case when e-signatures or EDI are used?

Article 247(3) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC — storage in a third country

Q8.Can invoices be stored in a third country?

Q9.If yes, are there any conditions?

ANNEX III