Article 17a Directive 2006/112/EC

Supply of goods

Title IV · Taxable transactions › Chapter 1 · Supply of goods

Text of 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 following conditions are met:

(a)goods are dispatched or transported by a taxable person, or by a third party on his behalf, to another Member State with a view to those goods being supplied there, at a later stage and after arrival, to another taxable person who is entitled to take ownership of those goods in accordance with an existing agreement between both taxable persons;

(b)the taxable person dispatching or transporting the goods has not established his business nor has a fixed establishment in the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported;

(c)the taxable person to whom the goods are intended to be supplied is identified for VAT purposes in the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported and both his identity and the VAT identification number assigned to him by that Member State are known to the taxable person referred to in point (b) at the time when the dispatch or transport begins;

(d)the taxable person dispatching or transporting the goods records the transfer of the goods in the register provided for in Article 243(3) and includes the identity of the taxable person acquiring the goods and the VAT identification number assigned to him by the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported in the recapitulative statement provided for in Article 262(2).

3.Where the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are met, the following rules shall apply at the time of the transfer of the right to dispose of the goods as owner to the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2, provided that the transfer occurs within the deadline referred to in paragraph 4:

(a)a supply of goods in accordance with Article 138(1) shall be deemed to be made by the taxable person that dispatched or transported the goods either by himself or by a third party on his behalf in the Member State from which the goods were dispatched or transported;

(b)an intra-Community acquisition of goods shall be deemed to be made by the taxable person to whom those goods are supplied in the Member State to which the goods were dispatched or transported.

4.If, within 12 months after the arrival of the goods in the Member State to which they were dispatched or transported, the goods have not been supplied to the taxable person for whom they were intended, referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 and paragraph 6, and none of the circumstances laid down in paragraph 7 have occurred, a transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place on the day following the expiry of the 12-month period.

5.No transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place where the following conditions are met:

(a)the right to dispose of the goods has not been transferred, and those goods are returned to the Member State from which they were dispatched or transported within the time limit referred to in paragraph 4; and

(b)the taxable person who dispatched or transported the goods records their return in the register provided for in Article 243(3).

6.Where, within the period referred to in paragraph 4, the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 is substituted by another taxable person, no transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place at the time of the substitution, provided that:

(a)all other applicable conditions in paragraph 2 are met; and

(b)the substitution is recorded by the taxable person referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2 in the register provided for in Article 243(3).

7.Where, within the time limit referred to in paragraph 4, any of the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 ceases to be fulfilled, a transfer of goods according to Article 17 shall be deemed to take place at the time that the relevant condition is no longer fulfilled.

If the goods are supplied to a person other than the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 or in paragraph 6, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled immediately before such supply.

If the goods are dispatched or transported to a country other than the Member State from which they were initially moved, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled immediately before such dispatch or transport starts.

In the event of the destruction, loss or theft of the goods, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled on the date that the goods were actually removed or destroyed, or, if it is impossible to determine that date, the date on which the goods were found to be destroyed or missing.

VAT Committee guidelines on Article 17a: 5

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

Meeting 118 · 19 April 2021 · document 6.1. Article 17a(4) – Quick Fixes – return of goods placed under call-off stock arrangements: moment when the goods are considered as returned and accounting methods to determine which goods are returned
Meeting 118 · 19 April 2021 · document 6.1. Article 17a(5) – Quick Fixes – return of goods placed under call-off stock arrangements: moment when the goods are considered as returned and accounting methods to determine which goods are returned
Meeting 117 · 16 November 2020 · document 5.1. Article 17a – implementation of the Quick Fixes Package – Council Directive (EU) 2018/1910 – call-off stocks and Brexit
Meeting 113 · 3 June 2019 · document 3.1. Article 17a – call-off stock – how to handle small losses – transfer of goods
Meeting 113 · 3 June 2019 · document 3.1. Article 17a – call-off stock – whether to consider a call- off stock warehouse to be a fixed establishment of the supplier

Commission explanatory notes on Article 17a

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

2.5.3 What is the relation between Articles 17 and 17a VD? (p. 27) Article 17(1) VD defines the concept of ‘transfer to another Member State’ and assimilates this to a supply of goods (which is to be followed by a deemed intra- Community acquisition of goods on the basis of Article 21 VD). Article 17(2) VD enumerates a number of exceptions under which the transport of goods from one M
2.5.18 In which format can or should registers be kept? (p. 35) The call-off stock legislation does not stipulate in which format the registers should be kept. To that extent, Member States have to determine the relevant conditions. It would however be reasonable to expect that Member States apply certain flexibility and do not impose too strict limitations e.g. only a paper-based
2.3.2 Substitution of the customer (p. 14) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not established in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, the
2.5.1 Guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee (p. 26) 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
2.5.13 Is partial substitution possible? (p. 32) Partial substitution, whereby an intended acquirer is replaced by another one in the same Member State for a part of the goods which were under the initial call-off stock agreement, is indeed possible. The same conditions have to be fulfilled and, in this context, the contract should also be concluded before or at the
6.2 VAT Implementing Regulation (hereabove referred to as “IR”) (p. 83) Article 45a 1. For the purpose of applying the exemptions laid down in Article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC, it shall be presumed that goods have been dispatched or transported from a Member State to a destination outside its territory but within the Community in either of the following cases: (a) the vendor indicates
2.3.3 Supply to another person (p. 16) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September, A supplies the goods to business
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
2.3.1 General case covered by the simplification (p. 13) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, B takes ownersh
2.3.4 Return of the goods (p. 18) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, it is agreed th
2.3.5 Exceeding of the period of 12 months (p. 19) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods on 5 January of year N under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. The goods arrive in Member State 2 on that same date. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) i
2.3.6 Goods sent to another Member State (p. 20) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, A takes back (p
2.3.7 Goods exported (p. 23) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, A, regarding th
2.3.8 Destruction or loss of the goods (p. 24) Situation:  Business A, established in Member State 1 (and not in Member State 2), transports goods in January under a call-off stock arrangement to Member State 2. These goods are intended for business B which is identified (established or otherwise) in Member State 2.  In September of the same year, and before B to
2.5.16 How to determine the 12-month period? (p. 33) Article 17a(4) VD lays down a 12-month deadline “after the arrival of the goods in the Member State to which they were dispatched or transported”. For the practical implementation of this Article, it is necessary to determine whether “arrival” in this provision refers to the moment in which the goods materially enter t
2.1 Relevant provisions (p. 11) The articles of the VAT Directive relating to the call-off stock simplification are:  Article 17a: (main provision) contains the simplification rules;  Article 243(3): lays down the obligation to keep certain registers for call-off stock purposes;  Article 262(2): lays down the obligation to mention, in the recapitu
2.3 Different scenarios - examples (p. 12) In all the following examples it is stated that business A, which transfers goods from Member State 1 to Member State 2, is established in Member State 1. It must be underlined that, although this will be the normal situation, this as such is not a condition for the call-off stock simplification to apply. By contrast,
2.4 Call-off stock simplification and national VAT rules (p. 25) The simplification measure for the call-off stock arrangements laid down in Article 17a VD enters into force as from 1 January 2020 and is to be applied by all Member States. This implies that all other possible national arrangements regarding call- off stock and which deviate from Articles 17 and 17a VD are not in con
3.6.1 Guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee (p. 51) 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

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