VAT obligations for the operations territorially relevant in Italy

The non-resident subject – Community or non-EU – who carries out operations relevant for VAT purposes in Italy, must comply with the relative obligations or may exercise the related rights in the following ways:

  • Permanent organization – It is realized when a foreign subject carries out a stable economic activity in Italy, and qualifies as a taxable subject in relation to transactions fulfilled in Italy;
  • VAT Representative – when a foreign subject carries out individual economic acts relevant for VAT purposes in Italy, it is possible to appoint a VAT representative to fulfil the tax obligations and to exercise the related rights (for ex. the reimbursement of the VAT payed for the purchases). The appointment of the VAT representative is necessary for B2C transactions as well as e-commerce and distance commerce. The appointment is optional when it allows the non-resident party to assert the right to deduct the VAT paid on purchases in Italy. The VAT representative will act on behalf of the non-resident subject due to the power of attorney given and is jointly and severally liable with the non-resident subject for all the obligations required by law and for the payment of the VAT due.
  • Direct identification – It is the possibility – only for EU operators – to fulfill the fiscal obligations or exercise the related rights, registering directly to the Revenue Agency, by presenting a declaration of “start of activity” with which it is released a VAT number. Differently form the tax representative the only liable for the tax obligations remains the non-resident subject – directly identified – even if makes use of an Italian advisor.

Appointment of the tax representative in Italy

Tax representation consists of a mandate with representation given to a person established in Italy in order to fulfil tax obligations in the national territory.
The appointment of the tax representative or direct identification is mandatory when the transaction, which takes place in the national territory, must be subject to VAT and the related obligations are expected to be borne by the non-resident:

  • sale on the basis of catalogs, by mail order, to private consumers or to other subjects for sales exceeding 35,000 Euros;
  • sale of goods to private individuals (even if previously already introduced in Italy for assembly or installation);
  • introduction of goods into Italy on own account for the needs of the foreign company;
  • some services provided under art. 40 D.L. 331/93 (territoriality of intra-community transactions);
  • introduction in Italy of goods in VAT warehouses (art.50 Bis D.L. 331/93);
  • transactions involving more than three EU subjects for a single transfer of assets.

The appointment is optional when it allows the non-resident to assert the right to be able to deduct the VAT paid on purchases in Italy.

Liability towards the tax authorities

An important difference between the appointment of a tax representative and direct identification is given by the different responsibility towards the tax authorities:

  • the VAT tax representative is jointly and severally liable with the non-resident person for all obligations under the law and for the payment of VAT due (Article 17, paragraph 3, of Presidential Decree 633/72). From a civil law point of view, the tax representative acts as an agent without representation;
  • in direct identification, the only debtor remains the non-resident, even when using a consultant (auxiliary) in Itay.

“Light” VAT representative in Italy (art. 44, par. 3, DL 331/93)

Light tax representation is a possibility granted to VAT warehouses pursuant to art. 50-bis of Legislative Decree 331/93 for the exclusive management of non-taxable transactions on behalf of non-resident subjects.
In the event that, within the EU, are carried out transactions non-taxable, VAT exempt or not VAT subject, or in any case without obligation to pay VAT, the representative is called “light”. This representative is only required to fulfil the following obligations:

  1. Invoicing of operations;
  2. Compilation and presentation of the lists of intra-community sales and purchases.

This simplification stops with the first active or passive transaction, which involves the payment of the tax or the related recovery and, starting from such operation, all the normal VAT obligations arise (invoicing, registration, declaration etc.).
In the mandate it is appropriate to specify the limitation to billing and the compilation of Intrastat lists provided for by art. 44, paragraph 3, of Legislative Decree 331/1993.
It is mainly used for imports under customs regime 42, which indicates the release for free circulation with shipment to another EU country, where the warehouse manager, using the VAT number specifically assigned for this purpose, can register the importation under the taxability and issue an intra-EU transfer invoice on behalf of the foreign customer represented, with shipment of the goods to the latter’s customer in another EU country. It will then be necessary to fill in the sales INTRASTAT form accordingly.

Territoriality of the operations rendered in presence of a tax representative or a direct identification in Italy

The appointment of a tax representative or the direct identification in Italy for VAT purposes doesn’t change the condition of non resident subject of the foreign entity and, doesn’t have any effect on the territoriality of the single operation, that must be identified on the bases of the residence of the foreign entity, and not of its tax representative.

Documentation required for the appiontment of the tax representative

The tax representative must be appointed through the declaration of start and change of activities, referred to art. 35, paragraphs 1 and 3, of the D.P.R. n. 633/1972 or alternatively by:

  • a public act issued by a Notary;
  • a registered private writing;
  • a letter noted in a special register at the competent Revenue Agency (Form VI) in relation to the tax domicile of the representative.

For the purposes of registration of the letter of appointment, the Agency requires that the translation in the Italian language of the appointment letter would be legalized taking an oath before a public official (eg Foreign Notary or Consul General of Italy to the Foreign State) and may also request the affixing of the “Apostille” and the certificate of “good standing” of the foreign company. The Apostille replaces the legalization and certifies that the Notary or the Government authority that issued the document is actually authorized to do so.

Direct identification method

Direct identification for VAT purposes in Italy (art. 35-ter, Presidential Decree 633/72) consists in the assignment of a VAT number directly to the foreign subject, acting in its own name and under its own responsibility in Italy.
All subjects belonging to the territory of the Community can access direct identification as defined by art. 7, paragraph 1, lett. b), of Presidential Decree 633/72, and the subjects of the United Kingdom post Brexit (Resolution 7 / E of 1 February 2021), it follows that, for example, a Canarian company, despite being a company under Spanish law, cannot identify itself directly as it is considered outside the community territory and therefore will have to resort to a tax representative.
Direct identification for VAT purposes is achieved by submitting the ANR / 3 form before carrying out any territorially relevant transaction in Italy.
The ANR form must also be used to communicate any changes of the data already communicated indicated in the declaration for direct identification or to stop the activity.
The declarations for direct identification, with the consequent attribution of a VAT number, must be presented exclusively to the Revenue Agency – Pescara Operations Center – via Rio Sparto n. 21 – 65100 Pescara, in the following ways:

  • directly to the office (also by means of a specifically delegated person);
  • by postal service, by registered letter, attaching a photocopy of a declarant’s identification document and the certification attesting to the quality of a taxable person for the purposes of the VAT owned in the State of origin. The declarations are considered presented on the day they are sent.

Once completed and signed by the director, the specific ANR / 3 form must be attached:

  • an original and updated certificate issued by the Tax Authorities of the Country where the company has its registered office that attests the registratigon for VAT purposes;
  • an original and updated certificate issued by the Chamber of Commerce of the country where the company has its registered office and this certificate must indicate the representatives with the power to act and the powers of signature;
  • translations into Italian of the aforementioned certificates signed by the translator them, with a copy of a valid identity document attached;
  • copy of a valid identity document of the legal representative signatory to the request for direct identification (mod. ANR / 3)
  • declaration made under its responsibility, pursuant to art. 47 of Presidential Decree 445/2000, signed by the legal representative of the company, where it is specified:
    • the usual activity and other activities actually carried out in the foreign country of establishment;
    • the activity that are intended to be carry out in Italy following the direct identification ex art.35 ter D.P.R. 633/1972;
    • the reasons for the request;
    • towards which subjects (companies, private individuals, etc.) the activity to be carried out in Italy is addressed;
    • that the non-resident person does not have a permanent establishment in Italy.

Once the Revenue Agency has allocated the VAT number and sent the certificate of VAT attribution, the identified party must fulfil all the obligations provided for by the Italian VAT legislation.

Fulfilments of Italian VAT legislation

The tax representative (or the direct identification) is subjected to all the duties provided by Italian VAT regulations for the resident entities and enjoys the same rights, such as:

  • recording of daily fees for active invoices for B2C transactions;
  • record of passive invoices;
  • carrying out periodic payments;
  • presentation of the VAT data communication and declarations.

Invoices issued and received by the foreign entity with tax representation in Italy or through his direct identification must always indicate, in addition to its exact name and identification, also the exact indication of the tax representative.
The typical rights, related to the application of the tax, such as the obtaining of VAT reimbursement pursuant to art. 38-bis of D.P.R. 633/72, will be applied to the foreign entity, through its tax representative (or through its direct identification), or the possibility to purchase goods without VAT for the regular exporters pursuant art. 8, par. 1, lett. c), DPR 633/72.

Status of habitual exporter and ceiling

C.M. 8 November 1973, n. 70/502886 specified that the non-taxable regime provided for by art. 8, paragraph 2, of Presidential Decree 633/1972 “applies only to those companies that have their residence, domicile or a permanent establishment in the State”, consequently, “subjects residing abroad who carry out occasionally tasks in the territory of the State that, in any case, do not have their domicile or a permanent establishment”, however, the Revenue Agency with resolution no. 80 of 4 August 2011 expressed itself in favour of the use of the plafond as a habitual exporter by a foreign subject identified for VAT purposes in Italy, based on an interpretation of the regulatory provision in the broader context of the VAT regulations.
Art. 17, paragraph 3, of Presidential Decree no. 633/1972, in fact, provides for the tax representative not only the fulfilment of the obligations deriving from the application of the tax, but also the exercise of the related rights, for which the tax representative can exercise the right to purchase goods and / or services with the use of the plafond.

Invoicing of sales of goods and services

Regarding the issuance of invoice the Resolution n. 89/E/2010 has specified that the art. 17, paragraph 2, DPR 633/72, “excludes that the non-resident transferor is required to issue the invoice (and the consequent annotation and declaration obligations), using the Italian VAT identification number”. It has also confirmed that the VAT relating to goods and services territorially relevant in Italy must always be paid by the buyer established in Italy, through the application of the reverse charge mechanism, even if the transferor is identified to VAT purposes in Italy, through direct identification or VAT representation. In this regard, see also C.M. n. 14/E/2010 and C.M. n. 36/E/2010.
The Italian customers subject to VAT, purchasing goods or services from foreign subjects, are obliged to issue self-invoice or supplement the invoice received with VAT.
In reality, the Agency admits that, for internal sales, the tax representative of a foreign entity is entitled, for internal needs, to issue to the resident transferee / purchaser a document that is not relevant for VAT purposes, while indicating that the tax related to this transaction will be paid by the assignee or client.
The appointment of a vat representative in Italy doesn’t change the condition of “non resident subject” of the foreign subject and, it doesn’t have effects in the territoriality of the operation, that must be identified on the base of the residency of the foreign subject and not of its vat representative.

Opening of the VAT number

The subject appointed representative in Italy must open the VAT position (declaration of commencement of activity) for the principal. With the opening of the VAT position, the foreign person, through his representative, will be subject to all the obligations and rights established by the national VAT legislation.
The Italian operator who already owns a VAT number, if he becomes a tax representative, will have an additional VAT number. Each VAT number will be managed autonomously with separate accounting. A tax representative can represent several subjects and therefore can be holder of several VAT numbers, while a foreign operator can not have more than one tax representative.
The appointment is also possible for a single operation.
The tax representative can be a physical person or a legal person (resident or permanent established in Italy).
The appointment must be brought to the attention of the suppliers before the first transaction.

Use of the VAT warehouse and non-taxability regime

The VAT warehouse is a warehouse authorized by the territorially competent customs where it is possible to pass the purchased goods in a temporary non-taxable regime.
In particular the art. 50-bis, paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree 331/93 provides that the following operations can be carried out without paying the tax:

  • intra-community purchases of goods made by placing them in a VAT warehouse;
  • the release for free circulation of non-EU goods intended to be placed in a VAT warehouse subject to the provision of a suitable guarantee commensurate with the tax.
  • supplies of goods carried out by introducing them into a VAT deposit;
  • (letter repealed by article 4, paragraph 7, letter a), no. 2 decree-law 22 October 2016 n. 193);
  • supplies of goods held in a VAT warehouse;
  • intra-community supplies of goods extracted from a VAT warehouse with shipment to another member state of the European Community, except in the case of intra-community supplies subject to tax in the territory of the State;
  • supplies of goods extracted from a VAT warehouse with transport or shipment outside the territory of the European Community;
  • the provision of services, including processing operations and usual handling, relating to goods held in a VAT warehouse, even if physically performed not in the warehouse itself but in the adjacent premises provided that, in this case, the aforementioned operations last not exceeding sixty days.
  • the transfer of goods to another VAT warehouse.

VAT will be paid at the time of extraction of the goods from the warehouse directly to the manager of the warehouse with the exception of imports of goods from third countries and introduced into a VAT warehouse pursuant to art. 50 bis, paragraph 4, lett. b), of Legislative Decree 331/93, where the extraction will be carried out by issuing a self-invoice pursuant to art. 17, paragraph 2, of Presidential Decree 633/72 (therefore without payment of VAT) and with the release of the guarantee given in the introduction phase as specified by art. 50-bis, paragraph 6, last sentence of Law 331/93.
In particular, for these imports, the law provides for a guarantee provision in the phase of introduction of the good into the deposit and a guarantee at the moment of its extraction.
The guarantee must have the same form as those envisaged for VAT refunds pursuant to art. 38-bis of Presidential Decree 633/72 and must have a duration of 6 months in favor of the competent office of the Revenue Agency.
In particular, the Implementing Decree of 02/23/2017 provides that the issue of the self-invoice pursuant to art. 17, paragraph 2, of Presidential Decree 633/72, if the following requirements exist, connected to subjective elements of reliability of the taxpayer:

  • presentation of the return for value added tax purposes, if required, in the three tax periods preceding the extraction operation;
  • execution of payments, if due, relating to the value added tax due on the basis of the last three annual returns presented on the date of the extraction operation;
  • absence of notice of rectification or definitive assessment for which the payment of the sums due has not been made, for violations relating to the issue or use of invoices for non-existent transactions, notified in the current tax period or in three prior to the extraction operation;
  • absence of formal knowledge of the commencement of criminal proceedings or convictions or application of the penalty upon request of the parties, pursuant to art. 444 of the Criminal Procedure Code, against the legal representative or owner of the sole proprietorship, for one of the crimes envisaged by articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 10-ter, 10-quater and 11 of the legislative decree of 10 March 2000, no. 74, and by art. 216 of the royal decree of 16 March 1942, n. 267.

For newly incorporated entities, the requirements referred to in letters a), b) and c), must exist with reference to the periods, even less than three years, which have elapsed after the date of incorporation.
Generally, the introductory guarantee is provided by the deposit manager, while the withdrawal guarantee is not necessary for the following subjects:

  • the subject who extracts when it coincides with the one who put the asset into free circulation with introduction into deposit, as he has already provided the guarantee for the introduction of the goods;
  • the person who draws when he is an AEO pursuant to art. 38 of the UCC (regulation 952/2013) or when he is exempt pursuant to art. 90 of the TULD (Dpr 43/73).

The permanent establishment (art. 162 of Presidential Decree 917/86)

By permanent establishment, we mean a fixed place of business through which the non-resident enterprise carries out, wholly or partially, its activities within the territory of the State. There can be both a material permanent establishment and a personal permanent establishment.

A material permanent establishment is a fixed place of business with two characteristics:

  • a complex of material structures intended for economic activity;
  • it must be controlled and available to the head office.

For a non-resident enterprise to be considered a permanent establishment, it is necessary to carry out a significant part of its economic activity through the establishment itself (Response to inquiry no. 96 of January 19, 2023).

The personal permanent establishment is when a subject, resident or non-resident, habitually negotiates, defines, and concludes contracts within the territory of the State on behalf of the enterprise.

The permanent establishment is not a separate entity from the head office, which is responsible for the social obligations contracted by the permanent establishment.

Income generated by permanent establishments is directly attributed to the head office and is subject to taxation both in the state of the permanent establishment and in that of the head office (subject to recognition of a tax credit equal to the taxes already paid abroad by the permanent establishment).

The following are considered a permanent establishment pursuant to art. 162, par 2, Presidential Decree 917/86:

  • a place of management;
  • a branch;
  • an office;
  • a workshop;
  • a laboratory;
  • a mine, an oil or natural gas field, a quarry, or another place for extracting natural resources;
  • a significant and continuous economic presence in the territory of the State built in such a way as not to result in its physical presence in the territory itself;
  • a construction site lasting more than three months.

The article 162, paragraph 4, letter a) of Presidential Decree 917/1986 states that the term “permanent establishment” does not include the use of an installation solely for the purpose of storage, display, or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise, provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business is of a preparatory or ancillary nature.

However, it is believed that a permanent establishment exists when:

  • employees with an employment contract under Italian law have been hired in Italy;
  • single-agent representatives have been appointed in the Italian territory for sales promotion;
  • the administrator or the reference partner is Italian, is resident in Italy, and acts to conclude contracts for the enterprise in Italy.

Opening of a secondary office of a foreign company in Italy

To open the secondary office in Italy of a foreign company, it is necessary to draw up minutes of the Board of Directors or, if required by the statute, minutes of the Assembly with the following agenda:

  • establishment of a secondary office in Italy;
  • appointment of the person in charge of carrying out the activity in the secondary office;
  • conferral of powers to the person in charge.

The minutes will also include:

  • the object of the activity that will be carried out in Italy;
  • the declaration by the person in charge of the non-existence, against him, of the causes of ineligibility provided for by article 2382 of the Italian civil code and disqualifications from the office of director adopted against him;
  • the domicile of the secondary office in Italy;
  • the delegation to the legal representative for the minutes, with signature authentication, of the establishment of the secondary office at the Italian notary.

The report not in Italian must be translated, sworn and provided with an apostille stamp, and must be presented to an Italian notary for the verbalisation, with signature authentication, of the establishment of the secondary office, together with the declaration made by the person in charge of the secondary office certifying the non-existence, against him, of the causes of ineligibility provided for by Article 2382 of the Civil Code and disqualifications from the office of director adopted against him.

The following documents must then be delivered to the notary and attached to the file:

  • updated statute of the foreign company
  • latest financial statement of the foreign company

All documents not in Italian must be provided with sworn translation and an apostille stamp.

FAQ

For the appointment of a tax representative, it is necessary to have the following documents:

  • Up-to-date view of the company released by the competent Chamber of Commerce;
  • Certificate of attribution of the VAT number issued by the foreign Revenue Agency;
  • State and deed of incorporation of the company;
  • Letter of appointment of the tax representative signed by the legal representative and legalized by a notary or at the Italian Consulate in the foreign country.

The assignment of the Italian VAT number is immediate when the request is sent, so that, once the documentation is collected, within a couple of hours the Revenue Agency issues the VAT registration certificate.

It is necessary to communicate to its suppliers that for the purchase operations the company uses a VAT representative, indicating the personal data of the representative and the VAT number assigned to the representative and, finally, specifying that the purchase invoices must be sent, as a copy, also to the tax representative.

The appointment of a VAT representative is not necessary but allows the foreign VAT subjects to deduct the VAT credit on the territorially relevant purchase transactions in Italy, instead the appointment is mandatory in the following cases:

  • sale based on catalogs, by mail order, to private consumers or to other parties for sales exceeding 35,000 euros;
  • sales of goods to private individuals (even if previously introduced in Italy for assembly or installation);
  • introduction of goods in Italy on its own account for the needs of the foreign company;
  • introduction of goods in Italy on its own account for the needs of the foreign company;
  • introduction in Italy of goods in VAT deposits (art. 50-bis D.L. 331/93);
  • transactions involving more than three community subjects against a single transfer of assets.

In principle, yes. VAT is due at the time of customs clearance of the goods, however it is possible to enter the goods in “free practice”, that is to make the goods community by paying only customs duties and to use a “tax warehouse”, ie a warehouse where the goods are temporarily exempt from VAT taxation until the time of the their extraction.
At the time of the subsequent extraction, VAT will be paid through the reverse charge mechanism, pursuant to art. 50-bis, paragraph 4, of Legislative Decree 331/93 by those who extract the goods from the tax warehouse. The same mechanism can be used for intra-community purchases previously introduced the tax warehouse.

Absolutely not! The foreign company, even if identified in Italy or with fiscal representation in Italy, does not change its status as a foreign subject even if the goods were purchased through the VAT representation, therefore it will always be the foreign company to issue the invoice with its identification data, specifying that the goods come from Italy. The assignee will receive the invoice and register it with the reverse charge mechanism pursuant to art. 17, paragraph 3, Presidential Decree 633/72, which consists of a system of liquidation and payment of VAT by the assignee, rather than as normally done by the transferor. In other words, the transferee will integrate the invoice (which does not show VAT) with VAT and will register it both in the VAT purchase register and in the VAT sales register, effectively offsetting the VAT credit on the purchase with the VAT debit deriving from the registration of the invoice on the register Sales VAT. The invoice issued with only the indication of the Italian VAT number has no fiscal value and the transferee must receive the invoice directly from the foreign company. It is however admitted that the VAT representation may issue pro-forma documents on behalf of the foreign partners for the sole purpose of facilitating the registration by the buyer.

There is no obligation to issue an electronic invoice for the transfer of goods to foreign VAT subjects with direct identification. For not resident subjects in the State territory, but identified therein by VAT representative, pursuant to article 17, paragraph 3, or directly identified pursuant to article 35-ter of the D.P.R. 633/1972 (the latter, granted only to the community subjects), the identification in the territory of the State does not confer the qualification of subjects established in Italy (nor that of resident), with the consequence that, the operation carried out with these subjects do not flow into the obligation of issuing an electronic invoice, which therefore remains optional to agreement with the counterparty and without prejudice to the need to ensure the paper copy where required.

The companies belonging to the EU that carry out significant territorial purchase transactions in Italy in order to request the reimbursement of the VAT credit can, as an alternative to the appointment of a VAT representative, identify themselves directly with the Office of the Revenue Agency of Pescara. The identification times are on average longer than the appointment of a VAT representative (around 30 days) and the management of VAT reimbursement procedures will be carried out directly by the Office of the Revenue Agency of Pescara with average repayment times longer a few months compared to the repayment terms provided for tax representation.

VAT refund can be requested at the end of each calendar quarter by sending the refund request (model TR) to be sent by the end of the month following the reference quarter, or by sending the annual VAT return in April of the year following the reference year.
Pursuant to Article 38-bis, paragraph 1 of the Presidential Decree 633/1972, the VAT refunds, as provided for in the previous article 30, are ordinarily performed, upon request made at the time of the annual declaration, within three months from the presentation of the declaration. It must be emphasized that the repayment times are not binding for the Agency, which may take even longer than required by law.

The answer is affirmative, alternatively it is possible to identify oneself directly (only for EU subjects). “Indirect” electronic commerce, for VAT purposes, represents a supply of goods. In particular, this type of trade, unlike direct electronic commerce, is assimilated to mail order sales, therefore, for the purposes of invoicing, the rule established by Article 22, paragraph 1, n. 1) Presidential Decree 633/1972, according to which, the issuance of the invoice is not mandatory, if it is not requested by the customer after the transaction is completed. For these transactions, which can be classified as internal VAT purposes, there is no obligation to issue receipts as far as internal transactions are concerned. However, the obligation to register the daily fees remains.

For B2C sales made to private citizens (not subject to VAT) residing in another state of the EU, VAT will be applied in Italy unless the turnover thresholds are exceeded (100,000.00 euros or less if required by the individual State). Beyond the mentioned turnover thresholds it will be necessary to identify oneself directly in the foreign state or to appoint a VAT representative and to apply the VAT on the invoice of the foreign state.
Starting from January the 1st 2020, the following changes are envisaged:

  • the discipline of “distance sales” will no longer be applied but the general criterion will be applied that indirect electronic commerce operations will be territorially relevant in the EU country of destination of the goods (and therefore in the country where the private buyer resides);
  • the current “protection thresholds” will be eliminated and a single threshold of € 10,000.00 will be introduced, common to all member states, below which transactions will be relevant for VAT purposes in the country of the transferor;
  • if the aforementioned common threshold is exceeded during the year, the general principle will be applied starting from that moment (ie these operations will be considered territorially relevant for VAT purposes in the EU country of destination of the goods);
  • the transferors can opt for the simplified MOSS procedure (procedure currently in use for “direct” electronic commerce which avoids the transferor to identify himself in the purchaser’s country and which allows him, by transmitting specific quarterly VAT returns, to carry out your country’s tax payments).

The OSS (One Stop Shop) and IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) regimes introduce a centralized and digital European VAT settlement system, which generally applies to the following B2C transactions:

  • distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries (with the exception of goods subject to excise duties) transported or shipped by the supplier or on his behalf and even if carried out through the use of an electronic interface that facilitates transactions (marketplace );
  • intra-community distance sales of goods transported or shipped by the supplier or on its behalf and even if carried out through the use of an electronic interface that facilitates transactions;
  • national sales of goods made through the use of an electronic interface that facilitates the transaction;
  • provision of services by taxable subjects not established in the EU or by taxable subjects established within the EU but not in the Member State of consumption.

For amounts claimed for reimbursement of more than € 30,000, the Revenue Agency, pursuant to Article 38-bis, paragraph 5 of Presidential Decree 633/72, once the documentation supporting the request has been examined, requests the issuance of a bank guarantee or a surety policy for the amount requested to be reimbursed, for a period equal to three years from the execution of the repayment.

It is not necessary to use an Italian current account to the recovery of VAT credit. The foreign company may request the crediting of the sums due by communication of the details of the foreign current bank account. Taxpayers who want to obtain tax refunds on their bank or postal current account can request it at any time, using the appropriate form.
The model must indicate the data relating to a current account held or jointly held by the beneficiary of the repayment. In particular, it is necessary to carry the IBAN code. For credit operations on foreign current accounts, the name of the bank, the account holder, the BIC code and the IBAN (if UEM) or the bank details (if not EMU) and the bank address must be indicated.
For reasons relating to data security, the request for accreditation can be made:

  • communicating your bank details directly online, through the specific application;
  • by presenting the appropriate form to any local Revenue Agency Office, showing a valid identity document, the photocopy of which must be attached to the model.

According to the articles 38-bis2 and 38-ter of Presidential Decree 633/72 both subjects established in other member states of the European Community, and those established in countries that are not part of the European Community with which bilateral agreements of reciprocity exist (Israel, Switzerland and Norway), can request reimbursement of VAT paid in Italy:

  • According to the articles 38-bis2 and 38-ter of Presidential Decree 633/72 both subjects established in other member states of the European Community, and those established in countries that are not part of the European Community with which bilateral agreements of reciprocity exist (Israel, Switzerland and Norway), can request reimbursement of VAT paid in Italy:
  • Subjects established in countries that are not part of the European Community with which there are bilateral reciprocal agreements (Israel, Switzerland and Norway) request reimbursement directly from the Revenue Agency’s Pescara Operations Center, by sending the VAT 79 form. In this last case the reimbursement is made within six months from the receipt of the request for reimbursement, or in case of request for additional information, within eight months from the same.

The Apostille is a stamp that is affixed by the government of a country signatory to the 1961 Hague Convention, which recognizes the quality with which the public official who signed the document operates, the veracity of the signature and the identity of the stamp or of the seal with which the document is covered.

When a document has been provided with an apostille stamp, it is no longer necessary for the document to be legalized by the diplomatic authority of the country of origin.

Regarding the possibility of appointing a tax representative, in the presence of a permanent establishment in Italy, Resolution no. 5/E of January 16, 2019 states the following:

“The permanent establishment, although it can constitute an autonomous center for the allocation of income (cf. Article 7 of the OECD Model) or show indicators revealing the source of income, is not the holder of autonomous legal personality, limiting itself to reflect that of the head office.

On the other hand, even if Italian law attributes to the permanent establishment sufficient autonomy, to the extent of subjecting it to particular obligations and fulfillments (keeping of accounts, role of withholding agent, obligation to keep particular accounting evidence), these are obligations legally attributable to the non-resident subject for the activity carried out in Italy through the permanent establishment.

For value-added tax purposes, in particular, the Legislator, in compliance with the Community guidelines, has chosen to expressly preclude, in the presence of a permanent establishment, the coexistence of a tax representative, on the assumption that, in such a case, a non-resident subject is already fiscally represented in the territory directly by the permanent establishment.

Similarly, for income taxes, with Legislative Decree no. 147 of September 15, 2015 (the so-called “internationalization decree”), the unity between the head office and the permanent establishment has been further strengthened by the amendments made to Articles 151, 152, and 153 of the Tax Consolidation Act.”.

VAT representation and direct identification services in Italy

ASB consulting S.r.l., thanks to its long experience in accounting and tax services, is committed in the activity of VAT representative in Italy of foreign subjects through its specialized structure.
ASB consulting S.r.l. moreover provides the service of direct indentification of EU subjects and gives the required professional services in accounting and tax issue for the management of the permanent establishment (Stable organization) in Italy.

If you are interested in obtaining a price quotation for the professional service of tax representation, direct identification or permanent organization in Italy from ASB consulting Srl, or simply if you wish to have further clarifications, you can write directly to the email address info@asbconsulting.it or call our office at the number +39 049 8726744. We will be happy to answer your questions and solve your doubts.
Or fill out the form below!

We also deal with tax representation for online sales, subjects who carry out distance sales of goods and services in UE through online platforms to private recipients “B2C”