- The indirect customs representative is not jointly liable with the importer for the VAT due for customs clearance.
- The Court of Justice of Trieste has adopted the jurisprudential orientation of the Union judges and the recent direction of the Court of Cassation.
- There has been controversy regarding the nature of import VAT and the joint liability of the indirect representative.
- Some judgments believed that both the importer and their indirect representative should be jointly liable for import VAT.
- However, the EU Customs Code excludes VAT from the definition of customs obligation and import duties.
- The EU legislation clarifies that national fiscal measures, such as import VAT, are not considered customs obligations.
- The Court of Justice clarified that the indirect customs representative is not responsible for import VAT payment in the absence of explicit national provisions designating them as the debtor.
- The importer is solely responsible for the payment of import VAT.
- The indirect representative is only responsible for customs duties.
- Recent judgments from the Court of Cassation also support this interpretation.
- The lack of specific national regulations on the joint liability of the indirect representative for import VAT is emphasized.
- The court ruling annulled the tax assessment on the economic operator due to the absence of specific national regulations.
- It is hoped that the Customs Agency will intervene to resolve existing disputes and prevent new ones on this resolved issue.
Source: eutekne.info
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
