Confirmation of Intra-Community Supply of Goods from January 1, 2020 [FORM]

Obligations of Entrepreneurs in the Deposit-Refund System

If the export was carried out directly by the seller or the buyer, in addition to the specification of the cargo items, the seller should possess a document containing at least:

Furthermore, if the above documents did not unequivocally confirm that the supply to the territory of another EU country took place, other documents could be used, including:

CONFIRMATION OF INTRA-COMMUNITY SUPPLY OF GOODS – CHANGES FROM JANUARY 1, 2020

From January 1, 2020, there is a presumption that a taxpayer, possessing at least 2 documents specified in the regulation, has made an intra-Community supply of goods, and the tax authority will have to prove that no supply of goods to the territory of another EU country occurred. According to the regulation, the following documents are primarily accepted as proof of dispatch or transport:

• documents relating to the dispatch or transport of goods, such as a signed CMR consignment note, bill of lading, air freight invoice, or an invoice from the carrier.

As additional documents (along with one of the above documents), the following can be used:

• an insurance policy for the dispatch or transport of goods or bank documents confirming payment for the dispatch or transport of goods,
• official documents issued by a public authority, e.g., a notary, confirming the arrival of the goods in the Member State of destination,
• a receipt certificate issued by a warehouse keeper in the Member State of destination, confirming the storage of goods in that Member State.

These documents must be issued by two different parties who are independent of each other, of the seller, and of the buyer. However, if the seller indicates that the goods were dispatched/transported by them or by a third party acting on their behalf (e.g., a freight forwarder, a transport company), 2 non-contradictory documents relating to the dispatch (e.g., CMR, bill of lading, invoice from the carrier) or one of the dispatch documents and one of the additional documents (i.e., an insurance policy, bank documents confirming payment for the dispatch or transport of goods, official confirmation of goods arrival, a receipt certificate issued by the destination warehouse in the destination country) will suffice.

If the buyer transports the goods directly or through a third party acting on the buyer’s behalf, the seller should possess:

(the buyer provides the aforementioned statement by the tenth day of the month following the month in which the supply occurred);

and

• at least 2 non-contradictory documents relating to the dispatch (e.g., CMR, bill of lading, invoice from the carrier) or one of the dispatch documents and one of the additional documents (i.e., an insurance policy, bank documents confirming payment for the dispatch or transport of goods, official confirmation of goods arrival, a receipt certificate issued by the destination warehouse in the destination country).

It is worth analyzing the documents currently received, as in many cases, it may turn out that applying the 0% rate for intra-Community supply of goods is difficult.