An agreement was reached regarding the electronic VAT exemption certificate

In December, the ECOFIN meeting approved the proposals presented by the EU Commission to amend the VAT Directive to introduce a digital VAT exemption certificate.

The new common electronic certificate should replace the existing paper certificate used for VAT exemption that is applicable to supplies made to international organisations, NATO, diplomatic missions, etc from 2032. The Council shortened and postponed the transition period, originally planned to last four years (2026-2030), to only one year (2031-2032). The delayed starting date should help tax authorities spread in time the necessary IT developments, which will coincide with the significant investments needed to implement the VIDA package (see previous article about VIDA here). In a transitional period member states will be able to use both electronic and paper versions.