Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Tax provisions ° Harmonization of laws ° Turnover tax ° Common system of value added tax ° Chargeable event and the tax' s becoming chargeable ° Option for Member States to postpone the date the tax becomes chargeable for certain transactions ° Scope

(Council Directive 77/388, Art. 10(2))

Summary

The third subparagraph of Article 10(2) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes provides that, by way of derogation from the rule set out in the first subparagraph that the chargeable event is to occur and the tax is to become chargeable when the goods are delivered or the services are performed, Member States may defer the date when the tax becomes chargeable "for certain transactions or for certain categories of taxable person, until either:

° no later than the issue of the invoice or of the document serving as invoice, or

° no later than receipt of the price, or

° where an invoice or document serving as invoice is not issued, or is issued late, within a specified period from the date of the chargeable event."

That provision allows the Member States to provide that receipt of the price is the event which, for all supplies of services, renders the tax chargeable.

The Member State which avails itself of the derogation in that provision is not required to lay down either "a specified period from the date of the chargeable event" within which the invoice or document serving as invoice must be issued even where the price has not yet been received or detailed rules for documentation and recording of the completed service and the payment for it whenever the invoice or document serving as invoice has not been issued or the price has not been received.