Mail order regulation
As shipping trade regime or mail order regulating the control of the colloquially § 3c UStG referred. The regulation is part of the sales tax location determination and basically means that shipments to private individuals within the EU are taxable in the recipient's country. The term "mail order regulation" is misleading because the regulation is applicable to entrepreneurs in all sectors.
background
As a universal consumption tax, sales tax should, if possible, be levied in the country in which the recipient of the goods is located ( destination principle ). In the case of cross-border deliveries to entrepreneurs, this goal is regularly achieved in that the delivery is exempt from VAT in the supplier's country and the buyer pays tax on an intra-Community acquisition in the recipient country . In this way, the country of destination principle can usually be implemented without the supplier having to register in the recipient's country. However, if the buyer is a private person or an entrepreneur who, due to special regulations, does not have to pay tax on intra-Community acquisitions, the mail order regulation means that in certain cases the sales are to be registered and taxed by the supplier himself in the buyer's country.
In cases where private individuals and certain entrepreneurs who do not have to carry out income taxation collect the goods themselves or have them collected, the country of destination principle can hardly be implemented in practice. In these cases, neither the mail order regulation nor a sales tax exemption apply, so that tax is based on the country of origin principle .
requirements
Movement of goods
The supplier must transport the goods or have them transported. This requirement is not fulfilled if the customer picks up the goods himself or hires a forwarding agent. In addition, the movement of goods must start in one EU member state and end in another member state. The location of the business premises and the place of residence of the parties involved is irrelevant.
Characteristic of the customer
The prerequisite is that the recipient is not a person who would have to pay tax on an intra-Community acquisition . These are mainly private individuals or entrepreneurs who order for private use.
Special features apply to the following groups of people:
- Entrepreneurs who only carry out tax-free sales that do not entitle to input tax deduction (e.g. housing companies),
- Small business owners ,
- Farmers and foresters who apply average rate taxation, or
- legal persons who do not acquire the item for their company.
In order for the mail order regulation to apply to these groups of people, they must neither have exceeded the acquisition threshold applicable to intra-Community acquisitions nor have waived the application of the acquisition threshold. However, this does not apply to goods subject to excise duty (tobacco, alcoholic beverages, mineral oil). In the case of goods subject to excise duty, entrepreneurs and legal entities must pay tax on an intra-Community acquisition regardless of the acquisition threshold. Therefore, the application of the mail order regulation does not apply to the delivery of goods subject to excise duty to such customers, regardless of the purchase threshold.
Normally, the supplier can recognize from the use of the sales tax identification number by the customer that the customer must carry out an acquisition tax and that the application of the mail order regulation is therefore no longer applicable.
Delivery threshold
The mail order regulation is only applicable when the respective delivery threshold is exceeded. The delivery thresholds designate the "total amount of the fees" ( § 3c Paragraph 3 UStG) in the current calendar year up to which the deliveries can be accounted for with the tax of the country of departure. The remuneration is the total amount of the delivery used by the recipient of the service (value of goods plus shipping and ancillary costs), but minus sales tax. The turnover with which the delivery threshold is exceeded must already be taxed with the foreign tax. If the delivery threshold was exceeded in one year, sales tax must also be paid in the other country in the following year, regardless of the scope. The supplier can waive the application of the delivery threshold and thus voluntarily submit to sales tax in the other member state. The entrepreneur is bound to this choice for two calendar years ( § 3c Paragraph 4 UStG). The delivery threshold does not apply to goods subject to excise duty (tobacco, alcoholic beverages, mineral oil), so that these deliveries are always taxable in the country of destination if the customer is a private person. The delivery thresholds for the member countries are:
| Country | Delivery threshold | |
|---|---|---|
| in local currency | converted into euros | |
| Belgium | 35,000 EUR | |
| Bulgaria | 70,000 BGN | EUR 35,791 |
| Denmark | 280,000 DKK | EUR 37,551 |
| Germany | 100,000 EUR | |
| Estonia | 35,000 EUR | |
| Finland | 35,000 EUR | |
| France | 35,000 EUR | |
| Greece | 35,000 EUR | |
| Ireland | 35,000 EUR | |
| Italy | 35,000 EUR | |
| Croatia | 270,000 HRK | EUR 36,060 |
| Latvia | 35,000 EUR | |
| Lithuania | 35,000 EUR | |
| Luxembourg | 100,000 EUR | |
| Malta | 35,000 EUR | |
| Netherlands | 100,000 EUR | |
| Austria | 35,000 EUR | |
| Poland | 160,000 PLN | 37,300 EUR |
| Portugal | 35,000 EUR | |
| Romania | RON 118,000 | EUR 28,012 |
| Sweden | 320,000 SEK | EUR 36,232 |
| Slovakia | 35,000 EUR | |
| Slovenia | 35,000 EUR | |
| Spain | 35,000 EUR | |
| Czech Republic | 1,140,000 CZK | 46,570 EUR |
| Hungary | 8,800,000 HUF | EUR 32,257 |
| United Kingdom | £ 70,000 | EUR 81,843 |
| Cyprus | 35,000 EUR | |
Status: April 2016
Exception for new vehicles
The regulation does not apply to the delivery of new vehicles. This is related to the regulation of § 1b UStG. According to this regulation, the cross-border acquisition of new vehicles also leads to an intra-community acquisition for private individuals.
Consequences of the mail order regulation
If the requirements for the application of the mail order regulation are met, the turnover is subject to turnover tax in the Member State in which the transport ends. The invoices must then be invoiced with the respective sales tax of the country concerned. The supplier must register with the responsible tax authority in this country and receive a tax number under which the tax registration and tax returns must be submitted. Since the place of delivery is then in the country of destination, the delivery is not taxable in the country in which the transport begins.
Remarks
- ↑ for France the limit of € 100,000 applied until December 31, 2015
- ↑ Since Croatia's accession to the EU on July 1, 2013.
- ↑ for Austria the limit of € 100,000 applied until December 31, 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ Section 3c.1 Paragraph 1 Clause 1 of the Sales Tax Application Decree
- ↑ Section 3c (5) sentence 2 UStG in conjunction with Section 1a (5) UStG
- ↑ VAT thresholds. (pdf) EU, accessed on July 9, 2016 (English).
