Article 15 Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC

Without prejudice to other Community provisions Member States shall exempt the following under conditions which they shall lay down for the purpose of ensuring the correct and straightforward application of such exemptions and of preventing any evasion, avoidance or abuse:

1.the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination outside the Community by or on behalf of the vendor;

2.the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination outside the Community by or on behalf of a purchaser not established within the territory of the country, with the exception of goods transported by the purchaser himself for the equipping, fuelling and provisioning of pleasure boats and private aircraft or any other means of transport for private use;

In the case of the supply of goods to be carried in the personal luggage of travellers, this exemption shall apply on condition that:

—the traveller is not established within the Community,

—the goods are transported to a destination outside the Community before the end of the third month following that in which the supply is effected,

—the total value of the supply, including value added tax, is more than the equivalent in national currency of ECU 175, fixed in accordance with Article 7 (2) of Directive 69/169/EEC ⁵; however, Member States may exempt a supply with a total value of less than that amount.

For the purposes of applying the second subparagraph:

—a traveller not established within the Community shall be taken to mean a traveller whose domicile or habitual residence is not situated within the Community. For the purposes of this provision, ‘domicile or habitual residence’ shall mean the place entered as such in a passport, identity card or other identity documents which the Member State within whose territory the supply takes place recognizes as valid,

—proof of exportation shall be furnished by means of the invoice or other document in lieu thereof, endorsed by the customs office where the goods left the Community.

Each Member State shall transmit to the Commission specimens of the stamps it uses for the endorsement referred to in the second indent of the third subparagraph. The Commission shall transmit this information to the tax authorities in the other Member States.

3.The supply of services consisting of work on movable property acquired or imported for the purpose of undergoing such work within the territory of the Community, and dispatched or transported out of the Community by the person providing the services or by the customer if not established within the territory of the country or on behalf of either of them;

4.the supply of goods for the fuelling and provisioning of vessels:

(a)used for navigation on the high seas and carrying passengers for reward or used for the purpose of commercial, industrial or fishing activities;

(b)used for rescue or assistance at sea, or for inshore fishing, with the exception, for the latter, of ships' provisions;

(c)of war, as defined in subheading 89.01 A of the Common Customs Tariff, leaving the country and bound for foreign ports or anchorages.

The Commission shall submit to the Council as soon as possible proposals to establish Community fiscal rules specifying the scope of and practical arrangements for implementing this exemption and the exemptions provided for in (5) to (9). Until these rules come into force, Member States may limit the extent of the exemption provided for in this paragraph.

5.the supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring of the sea-going vessels referred to in paragraph 4 (a) and (b) and the supply, hiring, repair and maintenance of equipment — including fishing equipment — incorporated or used therein;

6.the supply, modification, repair, maintenance, chartering and hiring of aircraft used by airlines operating for reward chiefly on international routes, and the supply, hiring, repair and maintenance of equipment incorporated or used therein;

7.the supply of goods for the fuelling and provisioning of aircraft referred to in paragraph 6;

8.the supply of services other than those referred to in paragraph 5, to meet the direct needs of the sea-going vessels referred to in that paragraph or of their cargoes;

9.the supply of services other than those referred to in paragraph 6, to meet the direct needs of aircraft referred to in that paragraph or of their cargoes;

10.supplies of goods and services:

—under diplomatic and consular arrangements,

—to international organizations recognized as such by the public authorities of the host country, and to members of such organizations, within the limits and under the conditions laid down by the international conventions establishing the organizations or by headquarters agreements,

—effected within a Member State which is a party to the North Atlantic Treaty and intended either for the use of the forces of other States which are parties to that Treaty or of the civilian staff accompanying them, or for supplying their messes or canteens when such forces take part in the common defence effort,

—to another Member State and intended for the forces of any Member State which is a party to the North Atlantic Treaty, other than the Member State of destination itself, for the use of those forces or of the civilian staff accompanying them, or for supplying their messes or canteens when such forces take part in the common defense effort.

This exemption shall be subject to limitations laid down by the host Member State until Community tax rules are adopted.

In cases where the goods are not dispatched or transported out of the country, and in the case of services, the benefit of the exemption may be given by means of a refund of the tax.

11.supplies of gold to Central Banks;

12.goods supplied to approved bodies which export them from the Community as part of their humanitarian, charitable or teaching activities outside the Community . This exemption may be implemented by means of a refund of the tax;

13.The supply of services, including transport and ancillary operations, but excluding the supply of services exempted in accordance with Article 13, where these are directly connected with the export of goods or imports of goods covered by the provisions of Article 7 (3) or Article 16 (1), Title A;

14.services supplied by brokers and other intermediaries, acting in the name and for account of another person, where they form part of transactions specified in this Article, or of transactions carried out outside the Community .

This exemption does not apply to travel agents who supply in the name and for account of the traveller services which are supplied in other Member States.

15.The Portuguese Republic may treat sea and air transport between the islands making up the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira and between those regions and the mainland in the same way as international transport.