Import VAT excluded from customs sanctions: Cassation confirms internal tax nature

• The Italian Supreme Court has confirmed that import VAT is not a border duty and should not be included in the sanction thresholds set by the law.
• The Court clarified that sanctions should only be based on the additional customs duties imposed.
• The DL 16/2012 introduced changes to the law to combat under-invoicing and hold economic operators accountable.
• The current sanction regime is divided into different tiers based on the amount of evaded customs duties.
• There have been concerns about the compatibility of these provisions with the principle of proportionality and whether import VAT should be considered a customs duty.
• The Supreme Court has ruled that the sanction can be disregarded if it is disproportionate to the violation.
• The Court of Justice has stated that domestic VAT and import VAT are the same tax.
• Import VAT is not considered a customs duty.

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.

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