Frankrijk moet stoppen met dubbele BTW-heffing op gebruikte auto's (en)

The European Commission has decided to ask France to end its practice of imposing double taxation on second-hand vehicles imported from other Member States. While the French authorities, replying to the Commission's earlier request for information, have not rejected its position outright, complaints received by the Commission show that the French administration is not correctly applying the relevant principles. The Commission has therefore decided to send France a reasoned opinion, the second stage in infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If France does not comply within two months, the Commission could refer the matter to the Court of Justice.

The sixth VAT Directive (Directive 77/388/EEC, as amended) states that a vehicle is second-hand if it fulfils two conditions: it has covered more than 6 000 kilometres and it is supplied six months or more after its initial registration. Under these conditions, VAT is due in the Member State in which the second-hand vehicle is sold. The European Court of Justice has ruled that supply is to be understood as the act of making the goods available and not as a legal concept of transfer of property, which might tend to differ from one Member State to another.

According to numerous complaints submitted to the Commission, French residents signed contracts to buy vehicles from Germany, to take advantage of the lower rate of VAT. However, they had not taken possession of the vehicles (which had covered more than 6 000 kilometres) until six months after they first entered into service. The French tax administration, however, refused to take this information into account and merely checked the date on the sale contract, taking the view that the sale was complete and therefore that supply took place on that date. In contrast, the German administration, taking the view that the vehicle was only supplied six months later, refused to repay VAT on a vehicle that it considered to be "second-hand".

The Commission encourages Member States to take every precaution to combat fraud and ensure that taxes are properly collected. However, it considers that no fraud is committed if a European citizen properly fulfils the conditions laid down under EU law and, by doing so, enjoys a more advantageous rate of VAT, for example, as applied in another Member State.

For recent general information on infringements regarding all the Member States, see:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm