Prepared by Davide Accorsi and Federica Valastro
On April 14, 2025, the provision of the Director of the Italian tax authorities, prot. no. 178713/2025 [1] aimed at implementing Art. 5 of the ministerial decree dated December 4, 2024 was published, already commented with two previous newsalerts, to which reference is made for more details [2].
Non-resident subjects in the European Union or in the European Economic Area who fulfill VAT obligations through a fiscal representative [3] (hereinafter “non-resident subjects in the EU”) must provide a suitable guarantee to request or maintain inclusion in the VIES database. In particular, these subjects:
- if not yet in possession of a VAT number, must provide a suitable guarantee simultaneously with the submission of the declaration of commencement of activity in which the request for inclusion in the VIES database is valued;
- if already holding a VAT number, but not yet included in the VIES database, must provide a guarantee prior to the request for inclusion in the VIES database;
- if holding a VAT number already included in the VIES database, must provide the guarantee no later than June 13, 2025. In case of failure to provide the guarantee, the Italian tax authorities will start the procedure for exclusion from the VIES database [4].
The guarantee must be provided for a period of not less than 36 months and for a minimum amount of 50 thousand euros in the form of a deposit in government securities or state-guaranteed securities (which must contain the data reported in the following this facsimile on the Agenzia delle Entrate website) or through a surety policy or bank guarantee (which must contain the data reported in the following this facsimile on the Agenzia delle Entrate website).
Once the guarantee has been provided, the competent office of Italian tax authorities verifies whether it meets the regulatory requirements and communicates the outcome to the subject who provided it. Only after receiving the positive outcome communication, the non-resident subject in the EU can request inclusion in the VIES database [5].
[1] Read this article on the Agenzia delle Entrate website Provision of the Director of the Italian tax authorities, prot. no. 178713/2025.
[2] Read more information on our precedent Newsalert; Newsalert
[3] Appointed pursuant to Article 17(3) of Italian Presidential Decree 633/1972
[4] The Italian tax authorities will notify the fiscal representative of the non-resident subject, via certified email (PEC) or to the registered office, about the initiation of the procedure for exclusion from the VIES database. From that date, the subject has sixty days to provide the necessary guarantee to maintain the registration. If within this period the guarantee is not provided, the VAT number will be automatically excluded from the VIES database.
[5] In accordance with the procedures set out in the Provision of the Director of the Italian tax authorities prot. no. 159941 of 15 December 2014 referred to in the following this link on the Agenzia delle Entrate website.
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