by Tommaso Fonti LL.M., e Andrea Belvedere – Legal and tax department
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Italian VAT obligations expiring between 03.08.2020 and 05.31.2020 have been suspended for all persons liable to VAT having their tax domicile, registered office or operational seat in Italy, pursuant to the provisions of article 62 of the “Cura Italia” Decree.
Among the Italian VAT obligations subject to suspension there is also the annual VAT return relating to the 2019 tax year.
It is not clear from the interpretation of the rule in question whether the suspension of the deadline for the filing of the aforementioned return also applies to non-resident taxable persons identified for VAT purposes in Italy, directly or through a tax representative.
An important clarification regarding the personal scope of Article 62 of the Cura Italia Decree has been provided by the Italian Revenue Agency by means of its Notice n° 11 / E of 06 May 2020, where it clarifies (contrary to what was initially stated within the Notice n° 8 / E of 03 April 2020) that the suspension of the deadline in question also applies to:
a) Italian fixed establishments of non-residents with particular reference to the transactions performed by the same on the Italian territory; as well as
b) non-resident taxable persons identified for VAT purposes in Italy, directly or through a tax representative.
The interpretation of the rule given by the Italian Revenue Agency is perfectly consistent with the purposes of the “Cura Italia” Decree, which is aimed at avoiding to place on economic operators, national or foreign, the burden of numerous tax obligations that are difficult to carry out due to the current health emergency.
The aforementioned taxable persons can therefore benefit from the suspension of the deadline for the filing of the annual VAT return relating to the 2019 tax year, which shall be sent by the new deadline of 30 June 2020, instead of the ordinary term provided for by Article 8 of the Italian Presidential Decree n° 322/1988 (i.e. 1 February-30 April 2020).