Anti-fraud reverse charge extended to gas and electricity certificates

Signals from the industry and from tax authorities from other Member States have recently been received that attempts are being made to commit VAT fraud with the supply of gas and electricity certificates.

In the Netherlands, these certificates also called Guarantees of Origin. In practice, such Guarantees of Origin are known by different names. Think, for example, of Green (gas) certificates, Labeling certificates and Certificates of Origin. If certificates for other forms of origin are required in the future, they will also be covered by this reverse charge regulation.

The detected attempts to commit VAT fraud involve so-called VAT carousel fraud.

The trade in such certificates is comparable to the previous mass fraud in Europe with greenhouse gas emission allowances. The trade in such certificates is purely electronic trade whereby a product is not physically delivered or a national border is crossed. A physical check is therefore not possible. This is the reason for opting for a reverse charge mechanism for such certificates as a measure against this fraud.

The reverse charge arrangement only concerns the delivery between operators of certificates that are still tradable. Certificates that are debited can no longer be traded and can therefore no longer be part of a VAT carousel fraud. The reverse charge arrangement only applies if the place of delivery of the certificates is in the Netherlands. It does not matter in which country the certificates were originally issued for the place of delivery and the mandatory transfer.

The reverse charge scheme will take effect on January 1, 2020 and will be aligned with the time of delivery. Of course, the normal invoicing requirements as laid down in the OB Act 1968 apply.

Source: officielebekendmakingen.nl  (in Dutch, see 2.3)

 

 

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