Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 16 of Council Directive 2007/74/EC on the exemption from value added tax and excise duty of goods imported by persons travelling from third countries

Council Directive 2007/74/EC on the exemption from value added tax and excise duty of goods imported by persons travelling from third countries (‘the Directive’) lays down rules relating to the exemption from value added tax (VAT) and excise duty of goods imported in the personal luggage of persons travelling from a third country or from a territory where the Community provisions on VAT or excise duty, or both, do not apply. In other words it defines essentially the EU tax-free allowances in international travel.

This report is based on Article 16 of the Directive according to which the Commission shall provide a report to the Council concerning the implementation of this Directive, where appropriate accompanied by a proposal for amendment.

For preparing this report the Commission sent a questionnaire to Member States in June 2012 requesting them to comment on any part of the Directive and raising specific questions on the use of exemptions provided for in the Directive. The Commission received replies from all the then 27 Member States. 15 Member States saw no need to amend the current rules. 5 Member States suggested editorial changes and 7 Member States reported problems with the application of certain provisions.

While identifying a number of relevant problems, notably as regards the definition and interpretation of technical terms such as ‘occasional imports’, the Commission sees no convincing case for legislative action at this stage and will rather endeavour to tackle these issues via relevant Committee procedures, exchange of best practice and practical administrative guidelines and tools.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)849: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:849:FIN

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