NOTICE TO TAXABLE PERSONS PERFORMING CUSTOMS PROCEDURES 42
We would like to inform you that the Slovenian tax authorities (TA) have recently issued an official statement regarding reporting irregularities that they have identified among taxable persons performing customs procedures for the release of goods into free circulation which are subject to VAT exemption as part of tax-exempt supplies to other EU Member States (customs procedure 42, CP42).
Each supply of goods to another Member State must be tracked through the VIES system, hence the person importing the goods, which is listed as the importer in the data element PE 3/15 and 3/16 of the customs declaration and in PE 3/40 under code FR1, or whose tax representative is listed in PE 3/40 under code FR3, must, in addition to submitting a VAT return, also correctly submit ECSL report.
During regular VAT return and ECSL checks, the Slovenian TA have identified the following irregularities:
- taxable persons (or their tax representatives for CP42) who are importing goods under CP42 do not submit ECSL reports for the supply of goods to another EU Member State;
- there are significant discrepancies between the information included in customs declarations and information reported in the ECSL (by amounts and by recipients);
- information on supplies of goods previously released into free circulation under CP42 to another Member State is entered in column A3 rather than in column A4 in the ECSL (or in case of corrections, in column B3 instead of column B4).
Failure to submit and/or incomplete reporting of prescribed information in the ECSL is considered a serious tax offence, for which a fine is prescribed under the VAT Act (ZDDV-1) and is ranging from EUR 4,000 to EUR 125,000 for legal person and from EUR 1,000 to EUR 10,000 for the responsible person of a legal person.
Accordingly, the TA are encouraging all taxable persons or their CP42 tax representatives that perform CP42, to (1) review the correctness of their previous reporting and correct any errors (in ECSL, VAT or in the customs declaration) or in cases where they consider a discrepancy is justified provide explanations alongside submitted ECSL reports, and (2) consistently submit ECSL reports.
TA also draw attention to observed inconsistencies in the appointment of the tax representative for CP42. Namely, if a taxable person established in another EU Member State is identified for VAT purposes in Slovenia, they are not allowed to appoint a tax representative for CP42 (i.e. Power of Attorney 42) in Slovenia. Such a taxable person may, however, appoint a "general" tax representative in accordance with Article 4 of the Rules on the implementation of the VAT Act. If a taxable person mistakenly appointed a tax representative for CP42, TA urge them to revoke the authorization as soon as possible.