Edited by Francesco Pizzo, Lorenzo Ontano, Annarita Terrone and Ivan Vinciguerra
The Commission implementing Decision (EU) n. 2023/2879, dated December 15, 2023, provides the implementation of the first phase of the centralised clearance procedure regime for import, according to the Article 179 of the Union Customs Code (hereinafter also “UCC”), starting from July 1, 2024.
According to EU Law provisions, this procedure provides the possibility, for the operator, to lodge, at a customs office responsible for the place where the operator is established, a customs declaration for goods presented at another customs office. In order to be able to access the procedure, it is necessary to apply for an authorization from the Customs Authorities (through the “Customs Decisions” system) and to hold AEOC authorization (i.e., “Authorised Economic Operator for Customs Simplifications”).
As specified in the afore-mentioned Decision, the project aims to allow economic operators to centralise their business from a customs perspective.
According to Decision (EU) no. 2879/2023, phase 1 concerns “centralised clearance with standard customs declarations and may cover centralised clearance with simplified customs declarations and the respective general or periodic supplementary declarations (regularising one simplified customs declaration). In addition, it will cover the placing of goods under the following customs procedures: release for free circulation, customs warehousing, inward processing and end-use. For the type of goods this phase will cover all types of goods with the exception of excise goods, EU goods in the context of trade with special fiscal territories and goods subject to common agricultural policy measures”.
As to the VAT aspects arising from the application of this regime, reference is made to the clarifications provided by the Working Paper no. 924 Rev. 10 dated March 12, 2024, released by the European Commission.
In particular, this document specifies that, under this regime, the customs office where the customs declaration is submitted and the customs office where the goods are presented must exchange the necessary information for the verification of the customs declaration and the release of the goods.
Among the information exchanged, VAT data necessary for the declaration and payment of import VAT in the Member State where the goods are presented should also be included.
The authorization requested by the operator should also include the specification of the method of payment of import VAT in each Member State where the goods are presented, which is recommended to be:
- deferred payment: means that the payment of the import VAT to customs is deferred for a nationally determined period. (Article 211, first paragraph, of the VAT Directive no. 112/2006);
- postponed accounting: means that import VAT is accounted for and paid with other VAT obligations in the periodic VAT return, so-called ” import reverse charge” (Article 211, second paragraph, of the VAT Directive no. 112/2006).
At this stage, in Italy, under certain conditions and for certain types of goods, it is possible to use the above methods for the payment of import VAT, however these latter are not specifically applicable for the payment of import VAT in the centralized customs clearance regime.
Regarding the obligation of the authorisation holder to obtain a VAT number or to appoint a tax representative in the Member State of the presentation of the goods, these aspects should be clarified during the consultation procedure between the supervising Member State and the presentation Member State, prior to granting the authorisation so that the applicant can comply with his obligation before the granting of the authorisation.
Finally, the second phase of the implementation of said regime is scheduled for June 2, 2025.
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