- The Italian Revenue Agency provided clarification on the relationship between the VAT Group rules and the special regime for travel agencies.
- A company operating as a service aggregator for corporate welfare platforms and also acting as a travel agency under the special regime was the subject of the inquiry.
- The company had an excess cost related to purchases made for organizing travel packages in 2023.
- The VAT is determined using the “base to base” method, where the tax is deducted from a taxable base corresponding to the difference between the fee due to the agency and the total amount of costs incurred by the agency for the purchase of goods and services provided by third-party suppliers directly to the traveler.
- The invoice is issued considering the moment of payment of the fee or, if earlier, the moment of the start of the trip or stay as the taxable event.
- The cost credit arose from a time lag between the purchases made by the company in 2023 and the payment of the fee by customers in 2024.
- The excess could be included in the increase of costs in the periodic settlements of the following year.
- The company was included in a VAT Group starting January 1, 2024, losing its passive status for tax purposes.
- The VAT Group assumes the obligations and rights arising from the application of VAT rules with reference to transactions for which the tax becomes due or the right to deduction is exercisable from the date on which the option to form the Group takes effect.
- For pre-membership transactions, obligations and rights remain with the individual participants.
- Specific limitations are provided regarding the transfer to the Group of credit balances accrued before joining the regime.
- Excess deductible tax resulting from the annual declaration of each participant and relating to the year preceding entry into the Group cannot be transferred to the single entity, except for an amount equal to the VAT payments made with reference to that year.
- This measure was introduced for tax caution purposes, to prevent controlling interests in entities with significant credit positions from being acquired.
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.
