Tag Archives: waters

“E-INVOICE” NOT REQUIRED

Owning Companies identified for VAT in Italy by a Fiscal Representative are not required to be accredited to the SDI – Interchange System (SDI – Sistema di Interscambio ) for the e-invoicing procedure introduced by the Italian Tax Authority (Agenzia delle Entrate) starting from January 2019.

Law Decree N. 119/2018 (art. 15) amends the Italian regulation that introduced the mandatory electronic invoicing starting from 1st January 2019 (art. 1, para. 6 of Law Decree no. 127/2015) according to Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/593 from 16 April 2018 – which authorized Italy to the widespread use of electronic invoices – specifying that the obligation applies only to subjects established within the State (Italy) and not to foreign subjects identified for Italian VAT purposes, but not residing therein. This amendment implements what had been anticipated by the tax Agency in its Circular Letter no. 13/2018.

Therefore Owning Companies do not have the obligation to issue electronic invoices (e-Invoice).

This means that the actual procedure does not change and each invoice relevant to VAT due on Charters – having fiscal applicability in Italy – will still need to be issued in hard copy (paper format).

Please note that all the paper invoices issued by suppliers will need to contain the following wording: “copia cartacea della fattura” (translated: hard copy of the invoice). This will allow the Owning Company to still be able to deduct the VAT debited by the supplier. A “courtesy-copy” of the same invoice can be sent by the supplier to the client in digital format (e.g. pdf file sent by email).

A full explanation of the e-Invoicing in Italy can be consulted on the EU official website or visiting the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/cefdigital/wiki/display/CEFDIGITAL/eInvoicing+in+Italy.

For any questions or additional info please email us to info@yachtwelfare.it

Withhold Tax 33% in France

Withholding tax on charter revenues: has this battle been definitively won? As you may have heard MYBA and ECPY members have recently been subjected to French tax inspections in their capacity as Stakeholders. In compliance with Article 182B of the French General Tax Code, French Fiscal Authorities wanted to apply a 33% withholding tax on charter funds held by Stakeholders based in France, in relation to the commercialactivity (charters) made into the French territory and territorial waters. The withholding would apply when charter funds were transferred to Owning Companies or Yacht Owners which did not have a permanent professional establishment (business) in France and were based in jurisdiction which did not have a double tax treaty with France.
MYBA and ECPY decided to seek the official position of the tax authorities at the ‘Direction de la Législation Fiscale (DLF) in Paris. They asserted that Stakeholders are only intermediaries of on charter revenues realised in France and not the debtors.
The first reply was unfavourable but MYBA and ECPY lodged an appeal for a second interpretation by the National College. The DLF has now replied favourably, indicating that “the Stakeholder is not liable to pay the withholding tax provided for under Article 182 B of the General Tax Code”.
This is of course a great success but this is only the first stage, as now MYBA and ECPY need to ensure that this national decision is implemented at local level for the ongoing cases.
But when the battle is won at local levels are the tax authorities going to accept defeat or are they going to try to find a new debtor?
There’s still plenty of grey areas around this … stay tuned, we will release up-to-date news as soon as possible.

For any additional info or questions needed please email us to info@yachtwelfare.it.
We are always at your disposal.