Introduction

Recently, various companies are doing business with foreign companies aimed at creating profits in the global market, the number of which is increasing every year. If a Japanese company conducts business overseas, it will start business after checking various aspects such as marketing and logistics. Likewise, it is probably well considered for legal and tax restrictions etc for each country.

In this regard, however, the European VAT (Value Added Tax: abbreviated name VAT), which is the consumption tax in Europe, is not fully considered despite the fact that the tax authorities of each European country positively provide information.

One of the reasons is that since there are few experts familiar with international indirect taxes, including the European Value Added Tax Law, even in the corporate tax department, proper knowledge about compliance and tax planning concerning these international indirect taxes There is nothing to mention.

With regard to the "VAT refund" system, it is felt that companies with experience do not think much about the case of "VAT registration", which is an obligation occurring locally, and the "tax return" incidental thereto. International indirect taxes such as the European Value Added Tax and the US Sales Tax should comply with local laws and regulations even if the foreign companies provide goods and services when meeting the local taxation requirements.

Recently the European Tax Authority has strictly cracked down on taxation activities in Europe by companies outside the EU. As a background to this, (1) European VAT is a tax that emphasises "forms" such as invoices, so that tax payment is not easily paid and compliance violation is often found easily, ② tax revenue rate of each country In addition to the reason that the ratio is being shifted from "direct tax" to "indirect tax" globally, (3) from the influence of the new VAT arrangement (VAT package) implemented from January 2010, The reason is that attention is also paid to taxation activities.

As a result of this trend, many Japanese companies are receiving requests for tax declaration, suddenly being pointed out by the European tax authorities about tax breaks on their own transactions in the past. Even at our company, the number of companies that are being asked to negotiate with the tax authorities of each country and the cases that are being dealt with by countermeasures against them are increasing, especially recently.

Therefore, in this "European Value Added Tax Guidebook", it is thought that Japanese companies should explain the structure and examples of the European value-added tax which tend to usually be blind spots, and use it for advance examination in the case of your European business.

We hope that this guidebook will deepen your understanding of Europe's VAT and contribute to the development of your European business by contributing even a little to compliance at the time of European transactions.

Opti Co., Ltd.