The Ecofin Council, due to meet on Tuesday 10 December, is expected to adopt a political agreement on the revised regulation on the electronic value added tax (VAT) exemption certificate. The texts will be discussed on Wednesday 4 December by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU.
Unveiled in July by the European Commission, this revision should enable the introduction of an exemption certificate in electronic format confirming that a transaction is eligible for a specific exemption. The current paper version would therefore be replaced by the new electronic version of the exemption certificate, which should reduce costs in the long term (see EUROPE 13450/20). For its part, the European Parliament did not propose any amendments and approved the text as it stood in November (see EUROPE 13524/7).
However, in this political agreement, the Council has made a number of changes to the initial proposal, in particular to limit the scope of the compulsory use of the electronic VAT exemption certificate. This certificate would only apply to situations where two Member States are involved and the exemption is not granted in the form of a refund.
The text also includes a number of technical elements. For example, the Commission would be responsible for developing, maintaining, hosting and technically managing the respective central electronic system for storing and processing electronic certificates.
It would also determine, by means of implementing acts, the technical details and specifications as regards the electronic format of the certificate referred to in the first subparagraph and its processing, taking into account the needs of the Member States, including determining the IT system applicable for that purpose. The processing shall consist in particular in allowing eligible bodies or individuals, Member States and suppliers access to the computerised system, issuing and signing the exemption certificate by electronic means, recording and storing the certificates issued by eligible bodies and individuals in accordance with the first subparagraph and making them available to eligible bodies and individuals and the suppliers making an exempt supply.
Finally, the transition phase has been delayed and shortened. Initially, the regulation was to be implemented from 30 June 2026, with full application by 30 June 2030. According to this version of the text, implementation will begin on 30 June 2031, with full application 1 year later.
Read the draft political agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/emd; https://aeur.eu/f/eme; https://aeur.eu/f/emf (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)