Advisers Ask EU to Clarify VAT on Import Chain Transactions

The European Union needs to clarify the application of value-added tax to chain transactions on imported goods involving three or more parties, a tax advisers’ group said Friday.

The lack of clarity could lead to “frictions between Member States, double taxation or non-taxation” and companies “left guessing their VAT position or left having to VAT register in multiple countries for no evident reason,” CFE Tax Advisers Europe said in a statement.

Chain transactions involve successive supplying of goods between three or more parties subsequently transported by a single supplier. Goods transported solely within the EU can only have ...