Austria changes triangulation requirements
The Austrian tax authorities recently published guidelines and policy changes on the application of the triangulation simplification foreseen in article 141 of the VAT Directive.
Triangulation simplification in Austria changed
Here is a summary of their conclusions:
- Going forward, triangulation will be applicable in Austria even if party B is registered for VAT in country A.
- Besides the above, for triangulation to apply, party B must report the transaction with code T in the ESL return and the invoice should make reference to article 141 of the VAT Directive and the reverse charge made by the customer. It these requirements are not met, it is not possible to correct them retroactively.
- VAT groups in Austria should also look after the new requirements, particularly on the allocation of the transport along the chain of transactions. In these cases, the transport will be allocated to the Head of the Austrian VAT group even if arranged by the controlled entities, as only the Head of the group is considered a taxable person.
The scheme applies in all EU countries, however, the conditions differ from one country to another. As a general rule, transport should be arranged between party A and B. Businesses involved in triangulation should also check the conditions about the registration of party B in countries A and C. In some jurisdictions, a VAT registration in one of these countries does not allow the simplification on triangulation.