Exemption from VAT: final importation of goods

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2009/132/EC determining the scope of Directive 2006/112/EC as regards exemption from value added tax on the final import of certain goods

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

It defines the scope of the exemptions from value added tax (VAT) and the rules for their implementation referred to in Directive 2006/112/EC (the EU’s common system of value added tax).

KEY POINTS

European Union (EU) Member States must grant exemptions from VAT on the final import of certain goods under the conditions fixed by them in order to prevent any distortion of competition or tax evasion.

Exemption from VAT on importation may be granted for:

personal property imported by natural persons transferring their normal place of residence from a non-EU country to a Member State;
goods imported on the occasion of a marriage;
personal property acquired by inheritance;
school outfits, educational materials and related household effects;
capital goods and equipment imported upon the transfer of business activities;
certain agricultural products or products intended for agricultural use;
therapeutic substances, medicines, laboratory animals and biological or chemical substances;
goods imported for use by charitable or philanthropic organisations;
goods imported in the context of international relations;
goods for the promotion of trade;
goods imported for examination, analysis or test purposes;
consignments sent to organisations protecting copyrights or industrial and commercial patent rights;
tourist information literature;
various documents intended for official bodies;
ancillary materials for the storage and protection of goods during their transport;
litter, fodder and feedstuffs for animals during their transport;
fuel and lubricants present in land motor vehicles and in special containers;
goods for the construction, upkeep or ornamentation of war memorials;
coffins, funerary urns and ornamental funerary articles.

This directive does not prevent Member States from maintaining agreements concluded with non-EU countries that provide for special exemptions.

For some of these categories, certain goods are excluded from the exemption, in particular alcohol and tobacco products.

Imports of negligible value

Amending Directive (EU) 2017/2455 deleted Directive 2009/132/EC’s Title IV relating to imports of negligible value, eliminating the VAT exemption for small consignments (worth a maximum of €22) from 1 July 2021.

COVID-19 pandemic – relief from VAT and import duties

In March 2020, Member States requested exemption from VAT and relief from import duties on imports of goods needed to fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. Since the pandemic and the extreme challenges it posed constituted a disaster within the meaning of Article 51 of Directive 2009/132/EC, the European Commission adopted Decision (EU) 2020/491 permitting the import of these goods to be exempt from VAT from 30 January 2020 to 31 July 2020.
The goods in question had to meet certain conditions:
- they had to be distributed free of charge by or on behalf of public bodies or disaster relief agencies to people affected by or at risk of contracting COVID-19, or involved in combating it;
- they had to be made available free of charge to these same people while remaining the property of the public bodies.
Member States had to send to the Commission:
- a list of the public bodies in question;
- information on the nature and quantities of the goods in question; and
- information on measures taken to prevent these goods from being used for purposes other than to combat the effects of the pandemic.
Decision (EU) 2020/491’s validity was further extended until:
- 31 October 2020 by Decision (EU) 2020/1101;
- 30 April 2021 by Decision (EU) 2020/1573;
- 31 December 2021 by Decision (EU) 2021/660;
- 30 June 2022 by Decision (EU) 2021/2313; and
- 31 December 2022 by Decision (EU) 2022/1511, for Belgium, Latvia, Austria, Portugal and Slovenia.

Relief from VAT and import duties for persons fleeing the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and people in need in Ukraine

In July 2022, Commission Decision (EU) 2022/1108 was adopted to respond to the requests from some Member States for exemption from VAT and relief from import duties to meet the primary needs of the people fleeing the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and offer them sufficient humanitarian assistance (emergency temporary shelters, accommodation items, medicines and medical items, equipment to be used for the management and provision of food). This decision applied until 31 December 2022.

On 17 April 2023, Commission Decision (EU) 2023/829 was adopted to grant further relief from import duties and exemption from VAT as regards imports by, or on behalf of, state organisations, and charitable or philanthropic organisations approved by the competent authorities of the requesting Member States (Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Romania and Slovakia). The decision applied from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.

FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

Directive 2009/132/EC codified and replaced Directive 83/181/EEC and its subsequent amendments. The original Directive 83/181/EEC had to be transposed into national law by 1984.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

Other exemptions (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Directive 2009/132/EC of 19 October 2009 determining the scope of Article 143(b) and (c) of Directive 2006/112/EC as regards exemption from value added tax on the final importation of certain goods (Codified version) (OJ L 292, 10.11.2009, pp. 5–30).

Successive amendments to Directive 2009/132/EC have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.