Reference number: 8-2431998
According to the Swedish Tax Agency’s interpretation, the requirement for the goods to be directly taken out only implies that the goods should be transported out of the EU before consumption begins. Since this requirement is a consequence of the purpose of the entire provision in Chapter 10, Section 64 of the Value-Added Tax Act (2023:200), ML, it applies to all points in the provision, i.e., even when the seller delivers the goods to a place outside the EU.The Tax Agency believes that consumption has not begun when someone other than the purchaser performs certain processing of the goods before they are taken out of the EU. When only certain processing takes place, the goods have not started to be used for their intended purpose. The Tax Agency believes that this only applies to processing that is done without the goods changing their nature to become a different product.According to the Tax Agency’s assessment, when a buyer who is an individual residing or permanently staying outside the EU takes a product out of the EU for their or their family’s private use, the delivery may be exempt from tax liability under Chapter 10, Section 65 of the ML if the goods are included in the purchaser’s personal luggage. Personal luggage refers to all the luggage that the traveler takes with them when leaving the EU.The Tax Agency believes that the provision in Article 146.1(b) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value-added tax, the VAT Directive, which should be read in conjunction with Article 147, can have direct effect if it is to the individual’s advantage and they request it. This means that the delivery can be considered as an export even if the purchaser is not a taxable person, for example, a so-called passive holding company or an individual who takes the goods out in a way other than in personal luggage. Furthermore, the provision can have direct effect if the purchaser, who is a taxable person, acquires the goods for a purpose other than commercial use.This statement replaces the statements “Export of goods when the buyer is responsible for the transportation out of the EU, value-added tax” dated December 10, 2021, reference number 8-1355876, and “Sales to another EU country or to a third country of goods to undergo processing” dated December 8, 2009, reference number 131 808280-09/111. The new statement has been developed due to the new Value-Added Tax Act, and it shall be applied from July 1, 2023, i.e., when the ML enters into force. The statement clarifies that, under certain conditions, the VAT Directive can have direct effect when the purchaser collects the goods and takes them out of the EU. The statement entails a certain change in how direct export should be interpreted in relation to processing. The change consists of considering that consumption of a product is deemed to have started if the product has changed its nature to become a different product after processing. This means that the goods are not exempt from tax liability for export.
Source: www4.skatteverket.se
