Article 138 Directive 2006/112/EC

Exemptions related to the supply of goods

Title IX · Exemptions › Chapter 4 · Exemptions for intra-community transactions › Section 1 · Exemptions related to the supply of goods

Open in the compendium 30 cases ↓

Text of Article 138

1.Member States shall exempt the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination outside their respective territory but within the Community, by or on behalf of the vendor or the person acquiring the goods, where the following conditions are met:

(a)the goods are supplied to another taxable person, or to a non-taxable legal person acting as such in a Member State other than that in which dispatch or transport of the goods begins;

(b)the taxable person or non-taxable legal person for whom the supply is made is identified for VAT purposes in a Member State other than that in which the dispatch or transport of the goods begins and has indicated this VAT identification number to the supplier.

1a.The exemption provided for in paragraph 1 shall not apply where the supplier has not complied with the obligation provided for in Articles 262 and 263 to submit a recapitulative statement or the recapitulative statement submitted by him does not set out the correct information concerning this supply as required under Article 264, unless the supplier can duly justify his shortcoming to the satisfaction of the competent authorities.

2.In addition to the supply of goods referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall exempt the following transactions:

(a)the supply of new means of transport, dispatched or transported to the customer at a destination outside their respective territory but within the Community, by or on behalf of the vendor or the customer, for taxable persons, or non-taxable legal persons, whose intra-Community acquisitions of goods are not subject to VAT pursuant to Article 3(1), or for any other non-taxable person;

(b)the supply of products subject to excise duty, dispatched or transported to a destination outside their respective territory but within the Community, to the customer, by or on behalf of the vendor or the customer, for taxable persons, or non-taxable legal persons, whose intra-Community acquisitions of goods other than products subject to excise duty are not subject to VAT pursuant to Article 3(1), where those products have been dispatched or transported in accordance with Article 7(4) and (5) or Article 16 of Directive 92/12/EEC;

(c)the supply of goods, consisting in a transfer to another Member State, which would have been entitled to exemption under paragraph 1 and points (a) and (b) if it had been made on behalf of another taxable person.

Consolidated version on EUR-Lex (CELEX 02006L0112-20250414). © European Union. Only the Official Journal is authentic.

Case law on Article 138: 30 cases

Judgments, orders and Advocate General opinions of the Court of Justice and the General Court that cite Article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC, most recent first.

T-614/25 Trading 4 Judgment · 9 September 2026 · Latvia · cites Article 138(1)
T-638/24 Finanzamt Österreich (Intra-Community acquisition and supply – double taxation) Judgment · 25 February 2026 · Austria · cites Article 138(1), (1)(b)
C-639/24 FLO VENEER Judgment · 13 November 2025 · Croatia · cites Article 138(1)
C-234/24 Brose Prievidza Judgment · 23 October 2025 · Bulgaria · cites Article 138(1), (1)(a)
C-676/22 B2 Energy Judgment · 29 February 2024 · Czechia · cites Article 138(1), (1)(b)
C-664/21 NEC PLUS ULTRA COSMETICS Judgment · 2 March 2023 · Slovenia · cites Article 138(1)
C-641/21 Climate Corporation Emissions Trading Judgment · 27 October 2022 · Austria · cites Article 138(1)
C-696/20 Dyrektor Izby Skarbowej w W. (Incorrect classification of chain transactions) Judgment · 7 July 2022 · Poland · cites Article 138(1), (1)(b)
C-56/21 ARVI ir ko Opinion · 24 March 2022 · Lithuania · cites Article 138(1), (1a)
C-213/19 Commission v United Kingdom (Action to counter undervaluation fraud) Judgment · 8 March 2022 · United Kingdom · cites Article 138(1), (2), (2)(c)
C-802/19 Firma Z Judgment · 11 March 2021 · Germany · cites Article 138(1)
C-401/18 Herst Judgment · 23 April 2020 · Czechia · cites Article 138(1), (2)(b)
C-446/18 Agrobet CZ Opinion · 19 December 2019 · Czechia
C-547/18 Dong Yang Electronics Opinion · 14 November 2019 · Poland
C-273/18 Kuršu zeme Judgment · 10 July 2019 · Latvia · cites Article 138(1)
C-531/17 Vetsch Int. Transporte Judgment · 14 February 2019 · Austria · cites Article 138(1), (2)(c)
C-414/17 AREX CZ Judgment · 19 December 2018 · Czechia · cites Article 138(1), (2), (2)(b)
C-528/17 Božičevič Ježovnik Judgment · 25 October 2018 · Slovenia · cites Article 138(1)
C-264/17 Mensing Opinion · 13 September 2018 · Germany · cites Article 138(1)
C-108/17 Enteco Baltic Judgment · 20 June 2018 · Lithuania · cites Article 138(1)
C-628/16 Kreuzmayr Judgment · 21 February 2018 · Austria · cites Article 138(1)
C-580/16 Firma Hans Bühler Opinion · 30 November 2017 · Austria · cites Article 138(1)
C-386/16 Toridas Judgment · 26 July 2017 · Lithuania · cites Article 138(1)
C-26/16 Santogal M-Comércio e Reparação de Automóveis Judgment · 14 June 2017 · Portugal · cites Article 138(1), (2), (2)(a), (2)(b)
C-21/16 Euro Tyre Judgment · 9 February 2017 · Portugal · cites Article 138(1)
C-105/14 Taricco and Others Opinion · 30 April 2015 · Italy · cites Article 138(1)
C-144/13 VDP Dental Laboratory and Others Judgment · 26 February 2015 · Netherlands · cites Article 138(1)
C-492/13 Traum Judgment · 9 October 2014 · Bulgaria · cites Article 138(1)
C-273/11 Mecsek-Gabona Judgment · 6 September 2012 · Hungary · cites Article 138(1)
C-84/09 X Judgment · 18 November 2010 · Sweden · cites Article 138(1)

VAT Committee guidelines on Article 138: 7

Not binding. Positions agreed in the VAT Committee set up under Article 398 of Directive 2006/112/EC and published by the Commission.

Meeting 116 · 12 June 2020 · document 5.1. Article 138 – correction of invoice – VAT identification number obtained after the moment of chargeability of the tax on the supply
Meeting 113 · 3 June 2019 · document 3.1. Article 138 – exemption of an intra-Community supply of goods – interaction with the VAT Refund Directive
Meeting 113 · 3 June 2019 · document 3.1. Article 138 – exemption of an intra-Community supply of goods – application of Article 138(1a)
Meeting 101 · 20 October 2014 · document 4.5 Article 138(2)(c) – transfer of goods resulting in intra-EU acquisitions – exceptions – gas transportwed within the EU without any transfer of ownership – conditions
Meeting 080 · 8 November 2006 · document 4.2.2. Article 138(1) – goods or services – place of supply/acquisition – publication of books, brochures, etc. – place of taxation for B2B transactions – possible exemption
Meeting 060 · 2000-03-20-21 · document 4.5 Article 28c* – exemptions – with or without right of deduction – which type of exemption prevails
Meeting 054 · 1998-02-16-18 · document II.5.7 Article 28c(A)* – place of supply – new vehicle purchased prior to move to another Member State – private individual on moving house – conditions for exemption – registered with normal plates or under transit plates

Commission explanatory notes on Article 138

Not binding. Guidance published by the Commission (DG TAXUD).

Explanatory Notes on the 2020 quick fixes

Call-off stock, chain transactions, the VAT number as a substantive condition and proof of intra-Community transport

4.3.1 Guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee (p. 71) Guidelines resulting from the 113th meeting of the VAT Committee of 3 June 2019 3. NEW LEGISLATION – MATTERS CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECENTLY ADOPTED EU VAT PROVISIONS 3.1 Origin: Commission References: Articles 17a, 36a, 138(1) and (1a), 243(3) and 262(2) of the VAT Directive Articles 45a and 54a of the VAT I
4.2 What does the provision do? (p. 70) The amendment of Article 138 VD consists of 2 elements: - paragraph 1 is re-structured and a new condition is added; - a paragraph 1a is added. Article 138(1) VD Regarding Article 138(1) VD, the following must be taken into account: - The content of point (a) in Article 138(1) VD corresponds to the content of Article 1
3.5.2 The attribution of transport in example 2 (p. 48) As explained before, in that example only the supplies between B, C, D and E were part of the chain transaction. 14 Unless MS 2 has availed itself of the option in Article 194 VD. If that is the case, C will be liable for VAT under the reverse charge mechanism. a) The first supplier in the chain organising the dispatch
5.2 What does the provision do? (p. 76) Article 45a IR provides that a condition for exempting an intra-Community supply of goods according to Article 138 VD, namely that the goods have been dispatched or transported from a Member State to a destination outside its territory but within the Community, is presumed to be fulfilled in the cases set out in points
5.3.1 Guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee (p. 77) Guidelines resulting from the 113th meeting of the VAT Committee of 3 June 2019 3. NEW LEGISLATION – MATTERS CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECENTLY ADOPTED EU VAT PROVISIONS 3.1 Origin: Commission References: Articles 17a, 36a, 138(1) and (1a), 243(3) and 262(2) of the VAT Directive Articles 45a and 54a of the VAT I
6.1 VAT Directive (hereabove referred to as “VD”) (p. 80) ‘Article 17a 1. The transfer by a taxable person of goods forming part of his business assets to another Member State under call-off stock arrangements shall not be treated as a supply of goods for consideration. 2. For the purposes of this Article, call-off stock arrangements shall be deemed to exist where the followi
3.6.14 When has the intermediary operator to do this communication? (p. 62) Article 36a VD does not specify when the communication of the VAT identification number to the supplier has to take place. In principle, it would seem that, under normal circumstances, this communication should be done before the chargeable event takes place. In case the intermediary operator has not communicated to hi
3.6.9 Proof of the organisation of the transport (p. 59) The intermediary operator needs to keep evidence that the goods have been transported or dispatched by himself (on his own behalf) or by a third party on his behalf. Such evidence is necessary to determine that he is the intermediary operator and therefore, to which transaction in the chain the transport is ascribed. H
3.5.1 The attribution of transport in example 1 (p. 48) In this situation, we are going to consider that the intermediary operator is B. This means that B dispatches or transports the goods from MS 1 to MS 2, himself (on his own behalf and not on behalf of another party of the chain) or by a third party on his behalf. The general rule in Article 36a(1) VD is that the dispat
3.6.17 Triangular transactions simplification (p. 64) As already said, the scope of the rules in Article 36a VD is limited to clarifying which transaction in the chain the transport is assigned to. These rules do not have any impact on the liability of the tax, which is determined according to the general rules. Nor do they have an impact on the possibility to apply the s
3.6.18 The last person in the chain being a final customer (p. 68) As said in section 3.3, the minimum number of persons involved in a chain transaction is three. However, it is not necessary that all of them are taxable persons. Indeed, it is possible that the last person in the chain could be a non-taxable person, that is a final consumer. Therefore, we could apply the rules on chai

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