From 1 July 2026, France suspended its national small parcel tax (introduced in March 2026) and replaced it with a standardised European customs duty of €3 per product category. This duty applies to all parcels valued at €150 or less imported from countries outside the EU. Collected at EU level, it now harmonises the rules...
The Council of the European Union announced on 5 May 2026 an agreement to strengthen cooperation between Member States, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Anti-Fraud Office in tackling cross-border VAT fraud. The aim is to give investigation authorities better access to the data they need to detect and prosecute fraud schemes, including...
European Parliament study, 22 June 2026 The European Parliament has published a study examining the effects of the reverse charge mechanism under articles 199a and 199b of VAT Directive 2006/112/CE. These provisions allow Member States to depart from the normal rule that the supplier collects VAT. In situations presenting a particular fraud risk, they can...
Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal judgment, 19 May 2026, no. 25BX00295 The court confirmed that VAT reverse charge applicable to building works carried out as a subcontractor (French Tax Code article 283, 2 nonies) requires demonstrating genuine subcontractor status. A construction company had applied the reverse charge mechanism to services provided as part of building...
EU : General Court of the European Union, 3 June 2026, T-198/25, G Kft The General Court of the European Union ruled on whether a national rule is compatible with the VAT Directive when it prevents a taxable person from correcting their VAT position once a tax audit becomes final. A company discovered after a...
From 1 July 2026, Austria has introduced a reduced VAT rate of 4.9% for a selection of essential food products, replacing the previous reduced rate of 10%. The 4.9% rate applies only to products that correspond exactly to the tariff codes listed in the new Schedule 3. Processed or composite products not falling within those...
The Italian Tax Authority published a ruling on 29 May 2026 setting out how the simplified regime for intra-EU triangular transactions applies. Under this regime, an intermediary established in one Member State can buy goods from a supplier in another Member State and resell them to a customer in a third Member State. Provided the...
Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeal Judgement, 21 May 2026, no 24BX01030 This judgment clarifies the criteria for determining whether furnished holiday lettings fall under VAT exemption or must be taxed due to their hotel-like characteristics. In this case, a French property management company was letting furnished apartments in a ski resort and had claimed VAT...
In a ruling dated 13 May 2026 (CJEU, C-603/24), the Court of Justice of the EU has clarified the VAT treatment of transfer pricing adjustments within international groups. The case concerned a Portuguese car distributor whose profit margin was adjusted at year-end to meet the target return set by the group’s transfer pricing policy. The...
The French Finance Act for 2026 harmonises the VAT rates applicable to household waste collection and treatment services. With effect from 1 March 2026, all household waste collection and treatment services are subject to a single reduced VAT rate of 5.5%. This brings to an end the previous patchwork of different rates depending on the...
In this ruling, the Court of Cassation clarified the liability of a logistics provider for import VAT where customs formalities are carried out by an intermediary. A company had instructed a logistics provider to handle its customs clearance under a so-called “express” mandate. Following irregularities in the import declarations, French Customs held the provider liable...
Under Article 275 of the French Tax Code, businesses can import goods free of VAT provided those goods are destined for exempt transactions typically exports or Intra-Community supplies of goods. Until now, claiming VAT relief at importation meant issuing a specific notice known as the “A.I.2 form“, which had to be handed to suppliers and...
