Effective 14th August 2021, the Revenue Agency has communicated the following instructions that must be followed by subjects who intend to benefit from the non-taxability for VAT purposes of the purchase of ships used for navigation on the high seas and / or of goods and services referable to same.
The legal source is the D.P.R. 633 of 26th October 1972, in part recently amended by Law number 178 of 30th December 2020.
Specifically, reference is made to Article “8-bis” and the concept of “navigation on the high seas” mentioned therein.
According to this rule, operations relating to ships used for navigation on the high seas are exempt from VAT, which the same Decree defines as those that make “in excess of 70 percent of trips on the high seas ” in the calendar year.
However, in order to benefit from the VAT exemption regime, it is mandatory to submit a declaration to the Revenue Agency certifying the condition of navigation on the high seas has been met.
The Director of the Revenue Agency has recently approved a new procedure for submitting this declaration (Prot. No. 151377/2021 on 15th June 2021) which must be strictly adhered to.
The declaration must be prepared in accordance with the form approved by the recent Order of the Director of the Revenue Agency, available on the website www.agenziaentrate.it.
Furthermore, it can only be transmitted electronically, through the Entratel / Fisconline systems of the Revenue Agency.
At the end of the electronic filing procedure, an electronic receipt will be issued, containing a receipt reference number. This receipt reference number is a mandatory inclusion in the invoices for which the benefit of the VAT exemption regime is sought.
Consequently, until the procedure described above is completed, it will not be possible to benefit from the VAT exemption scheme.
The new procedure will apply to invoices that will be issued from 14th August 2021 onwards.
The declaration, however, can be sent to the Revenue Agency as early as Thursday, 15th July 2021.