- The Supreme Administrative Court confirmed the preliminary ruling from the Tax Law Council that a transporter, designated as the debtor for a customs debt due to non-compliance with customs legislation, acted as an agent for the importer under the VAT law
- As an agent, the transporter was not liable to pay VAT on the import
- The transporter had the authority to declare goods for customs procedures on behalf of the importer
- The Swedish Tax Agency will review and update its position on VAT liability in import cases when the Tax Agency is the taxing authority, especially concerning agents in cases of non-compliance with customs legislation
- The Customs Service had appointed the transporter as the debtor for the customs debt due to non-compliance
- The company listed as the declarant in the customs declaration was VAT registered in Sweden and acted as a taxable person at the time of customs determination
- According to VAT law, the party responsible for paying customs duties is also responsible for paying VAT unless otherwise specified by the law
- The Tax Agency initially decided that the transporter should pay VAT as it believed the transporter could not be considered an agent under the specific VAT law provision
- The Tax Agency’s general counsel sought a preliminary ruling on whether the transporter could be considered an agent for the importer under VAT law
- The Tax Law Council ruled that the transporter was indeed an agent for the importer
- The Supreme Administrative Court upheld this decision, indicating that non-compliance with customs legislation does not prevent the application of the VAT law provision regarding agents
Source: www4.skatteverket.se
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.
