Brexit
The agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, following Brexit, was reached on 24 December 2020 and entered into force on 1 January 2021.
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From this date the United Kingdom is no longer part of the customs and fiscal territory (VAT and excise duties) of the European Union.
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Pending ratification by the British and European Parliament, the European Commission has prepared guidelines with particular regard to tax and customs legislation.
The supplies and movements of goods between the EU and the UK will be subject to VAT regulations on imports and exports. The latter will be invoiced as non-taxable operations, article 8, paragraph 1, letters a) or b), D.P.R. 633/1972.
Special rules apply to the territory of Northern Ireland, distinguishing between the supply of goods and the provision of services: to avoid a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the latter, albeit part of the United Kingdom, will remain subject to the EU VAT legislation for sales, intra-community purchases and imports of goods located there.
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To this end, Council Directive (EU) 2020/1756 of 20.11.2020 was issued which amends Directive 2006/112 / EC regarding the identification of taxable persons in Northern Ireland which, from 1 January 2021 , is treated in the same way as a Community Member State.
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Therefore, transactions involving the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and Member States will be considered intra-EU transactions. The transfers of goods will be intra-community transfers, non-taxable transactions, article 41 of Legislative Decree no. 331/1993.
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From 1 January 2021, taxable persons in Northern Ireland who according to the protocol are subject to EU VAT legislation must be identified by means of a VAT identification number with the prefix "XI" (different from that of the United Kingdom starting with GB).
The country code that is part of the physical address of the Headquarters or Permanent Establishment must continue to show the value "GB". Therefore, it will be necessary to use specific distinct codes depending on the territory involved in the operation: GB for the United Kingdom, XI for the Northern Ireland and of course IE remains valid for Ireland.
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Finally, the operations involving the provision of services between Member States and Northern Ireland, not being contemplated in the agreement protocol, will be equated to operations between Member States and non-EU third countries such as the United Kingdom (therefore they should not be included in the lists Intrastat).