The Greek tax authorities have recently clarified that the 6% reduced VAT rate applies to all products that are classified under the class 49.04 of the Regulation 2658/87, i.e. to the supplies of books with handwritten or printed music (all kinds of music), and to the supply of tickets for sport games (all kind of games) issued between 1 September 2020 and 30 June 2021.

Under the recently published Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/1277, the application period of the simplified VAT recovery mechanism, for tolls on the Öresund fixed link between Denmark and Sweden, has been extended until 31 December 2027.

The ECJ has ruled that the article 9(1) and the article 193 of the Council Directive 2006/112/EC must be interpreted as meaning that, if two natural persons set up a joint activity agreement, establishing a partnership where just one person has the power to act in the name of the partners as a whole, however acts alone in his or her name in relation with third parties when performing acts related with the economic activity pursued by that partnership, such person is considered as having the unique liability for the VAT payable.

According to the Italian tax authorities, the clarifications provided before the implementation of the quick fixes into the European System, regarding the required documentary evidence to prove an intra community delivery of goods, continues to apply in Italy.
In light of the above, the Italian tax authorities clarified that is not sufficient that a taxable person provides the declaration of the purchaser stating that is a taxable person and is able to transport the respective goods, the respective proof of payment and the EC sales list submitted for that period in which such intra community supply has been reported.
 

The French Customs authorities have recently announced that, as from January 2021, the purchase threshold which individuals residing outside of the European Union can request VAT refund of purchases made in France is 100 EUR, instead of the current threshold of 175 EUR.

HMRC has recently published a guidance letter addressed to the companies registered for VAT purposes in the United Kingdom, which trade with the rest of the world, regarding the changes that will take place as from 1 January 2021.

The deadline for several Danish VAT obligations has been extended, for both established and non-established companies, such as the August 2020 VAT return which could be submitted until 2 October 2020.

The Slovenian tax authorities have recently clarified that the sale and leaseback agreements may be considered as a single financial service, if the seller transfers the goods to the lessor in order to obtain an asset as a loan and then, the lessor performs a financial leasing for the same goods with the seller, and the lessor is not allowed to dispose of these goods.
The Slovenian tax authorities also clarified that such transaction is exempt from VAT and, therefore, there is no right to deduct the respective input VAT incurred.
 

The ECJ has ruled that the article 17(2)(a) of the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC must be interpreted as meaning that a taxable person is allowed to deduct the VAT incurred on works for the extension of a municipal road, performed for the benefit of the municipality, provided that such road is used on benefit of its own economic activity and on public benefit also. In this context, it is also required that such works do not exceed what is required for the taxable person perform its economic activity and that such costs be included in the price of the output transactions.
In addition, the ECJ also clarified that the article 2(1) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 must be interpreted as meaning that the authorisation granted unilaterally by an authority of a Member State to operate a quarry, where there is no monetary consideration, does not constitute consideration received by a taxable person.
Furthermore, the ECJ clarified that the article 5(6) of the Sixth Directive 77/388 must be interpreted as meaning that it shall not be considered a supply of goods made for consideration, the works carried out without consideration for the benefit of the municipality.
 

The Greek Government has recently announced that the 13% reduced VAT rate will continue to apply for more 6 months to all kind of transports, coffee, non-alcoholic beverages and cinema tickets.

As from 1 October 2020, companies established outside the European Union, are no longer able to be designated as exporters, and the person who will be designated exporter on their behalf will have to assume all the responsibilities related to this statute.

The authorization provided by the Council of the European Union to Latvia to apply a VAT registration threshold of 40 000 EUR for small business, has been extended until 31 December 2024.

The Italian Tax Authorities clarified that taxable persons that can benefit from the habitual exporter regime, cannot apply it on lease of purchases of industrial buildings and therefore, the respective periodical fees are subject to VAT.

The HMRC has clarified, in the VAT Notice 701/58 Section 3, the criteria that can determine if the zero VAT rate is applicable to a digital advertising by a charity. 

The Greek tax authorities have recently reduced the annual threshold, from 250 million to 40 million, by which non-established companies can suspend import VAT. To apply such suspension, the respective qualifying taxable persons must request  permission that is granted under specific conditions.

The authorization provided by the Council of the European Union to Romania to apply a VAT exemption threshold of 88 500 EUR for small business, has been extended until 31 December 2024.

The Italian Tax Authority clarified that the VAT Split payment regime in the context of transactions carried out with Public Administrations ("P.A."), public bodies and companies listed in the FTSE MIB index, in which the customer pays directly to the Italian Tax Authorities the VAT applied by the supplier on certain invoices (art. 17-ter DPR 633/72), was extended until 30/06/2023.

The Italian Tax Authorities have recently provided clarifications regarding the right to deduct input VAT when the VAT due is charged later than of the supply.
In this context, the Italian Tax Authorities provided the two following scenarios:
•    The supplier realizes that he has made a mistake, regularizes its position through the voluntary settlement procedure, issue a variation invoice for the relevant amount of VAT charged and pay the respective reduced penalties and late interest. In this scenario, the customer may deduct such VAT, between the day in which the variation invoice is issued and the deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return for the year in which that invoice was issued; 
•    The supplier charges the VAT upon request of the Italian tax authorities, in the frame of an assessment or inspection. In this scenario, the customer may deduct the amount of input VAT between the day in which the VAT is charged and the deadline for the submission of the annual VAT return for the second year following the one in which the VAT was charged.
The Italian tax authorities also clarified that, where the customer is established outside the European Union, it can appoint an Italian VAT representative and recover such VAT, even if the time of supply already occurred.
 

The authorization provided by the Council of the European Union to Romania to limit the right of VAT deduction, to 50%, for motorized vehicles, has been extended until 31 December 2024. Under this limitation, Romania created the legal assumption that a motorized vehicle is 50% used for private purposes and, therefore enables the VAT deduction of the remaining 50%, without having to present the respective documentation.

HMRC has recently clarified that charges defined as compensation or early termination fees are generally liable for VAT. This is in line with the position adopted by the ECJ on the cases MEO (Case C-295/17) and Vodafone Portugal (Case C-43/19).

The Italian Tax Authorities have recently clarified that as from 1 November 2020,  the place of supply of supplies of leasing, hiring and similar of pleasure boats is deemed to be outside the European Union where it is proven that the respective use and enjoyment occurs outside the European Union.

The EU VAT e-commerce package, regarding distance sales of goods and certain domestic supplies of goods, provided under Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 of 5 December 2017 has been adopted by Portugal and will enter into force on 1 January 2021.
In this context, several amendments are foreseen, such as (i.) the approval of a specific regime for taxable persons that supply services to non-taxable persons who make distance sales or certain local sales, and (ii.) the revocation of the specific VAT regime for telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services companies, which are not established neither in the Member State in which these services are provided, nor in other EU Member State and that provide services to non-taxable persons domiciled in the European Union.
 

The ECJ has ruled that the articles 90 and 273 of the EU VAT Directive (2006/112) must be interpreted as precluding a national legislation to refuse the right of reduction of the VAT paid and relating to debts deemed irrecoverable following insolvency proceedings, when such debts have been considered as irrecoverable by another member state.