Entrepreneurs who trade across the EU must not only submit VAT returns, but also Intrastat returns. These control the movement of goods in Europe. In January 2022, there will be some changes for those subject to the reporting requirement. You can find out more about this in the following article.
Antonia Klatt
Last Updated on 21 December 2021
What is an Intrastat declaration?
Intra-trade statistics (Intrastat) reports must be submitted by all companies across the EU in order to record the movements of goods that have taken place in Europe. All entrepreneurs registered for VAT with foreign contractual partners for the purpose of transporting goods, for which no customs declarations are required, are required to report. The only exceptions are entrepreneurs
- whose dispatches to non-EU nationals have a maximum value of € 500,000 and
- whose receipts from EU countries had a maximum value € 800,000 in the previous year
What will change in the Intrastat filing from 2022?
As of January 1, 2022, a new EU regulation (2019/2152) will replace the previous European basic regulations on foreign trade statistics, and a new implementing regulation (2020/1197) will replace the current one. This results in the following changes to the Intrastat declaration:
- New list and naming of the types of business
- No more summarizing report
- Specification of the country of origin of export goods when shipping to other EU countries
- Specification of the sales partner’s VAT ID in the importing country
New list and naming of the types of business
A new list of types of business has been issued with the new regulations. These are not only named differently, but also numbered differently. Therefore, the new list must be consulted for all goods movements to be reported from January 2022. The new list is also used in the course of customs declarations.
Please note that the new list only applies to movements reported after January 1, 2022. The old list must continue to be used for reports that relate to the year 2021 but are not submitted until the calendar year 2022.
No more summarizing report
Thanks to the new regulations, separate reports must be submitted for each combination of recipient and country of origin. Therefore, a summarizing report is no longer necessary. Only goods movements where
- all country information,
- the type of transaction,
- the mode of transport,
- the goods number,
- and the recipient’s VAT ID if used
match, may be summarized. This change should be prepared as it can increase the administrative burden.
Specification of the country of origin of export goods when shipping to other EU countries
Previously, information on the origin was only necessary if the goods were moved domestically. That will change from January 1, 2022. From the new year, the origin information must also be given for goods that are moved to other EU countries. The aim of this change is to match the information on the entry with the information on the exit in the other country.
Specification of the sales partner’s VAT ID in the importing country
Another change to the Intrastat report from 2022 is the mandatory specification of the VAT identification number of the goods recipient. However, this number is not always known.
In the case of triangular transactions where the VAT ID of the final recipient is not known, the country code of the intermediary or invoice recipient and number 9 must be specified twelve times in case of doubt.
In the case of chain transactions in which the intermediary resells the goods in his home country, the verified VAT identification number of the first foreign partner or the intermediary must be given.
If the VAT ID cannot be checked, the code QV and 12 times the number 9 must be entered instead. The identification number is then checked directly by the Federal Statistical Office. If the recipient is a private person instead, the code QN and the number 9 are given twelve times.
