Text file: 4049.txt
author: Drago Felle
downvotes: 4
end consideration date: 2013-01-02
id: '4049'
number comments: 7
number views: 1348
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: 'Response from the Ministry of Finance

  Pursuant to Article 46(1) of the Value Added Tax Act (Official Gazette of the Republic
  of Slovenia, No. 13/11 - Official consolidated text, 18/11, 78/11, 38/12, 40/2012-ZUJF,
  83/12), supplies of goods dispatched or dispatched by the seller or the person acquiring
  the goods or by another person on their behalf from the territory of Slovenia to
  another Member State, if made to another taxable person or a legal person other
  than a taxable person acting as such in that other Member State, are exempt from
  VAT. Similarly, in accordance with Article 52(1)(a) of this Law, the supply of goods
  dispatched from Slovenia or dispatched to a destination outside the Union by the
  seller or by another person on his behalf is exempt.    On the basis of the above,
  the supply of logs to another Member State or to a third country is therefore exempt
  from VAT in Slovenia. In view of the established principle of taxation at destination
  in the VAT system, according to which goods are taxed where they are consumed, that
  transaction is taxed in accordance with the national law of the country of destination,
  either as an intra-Union acquisition of goods, whereby the system of taxation of
  goods on the basis of the destination principle operates only in the case of a transaction
  between taxable persons identified for VAT purposes, or on importation of the goods,
  if the destination is outside the Union. If a separate tax were levied on the supply
  of logs to another Member State or to a third country, the logs would therefore
  be taxed twice. The first time in Slovenia and the second time, taking into account
  the principle of destination, in another Member State or in a third country. This
  would affect the competitiveness of our product. Taxing logs with a special tax,
  in the case of sales to another Member State or to a third country, would also mean
  unequal tax treatment of logs sold on the domestic market and logs sold outside
  Slovenia. When introducing a new, specific tax on exported logs, we must also respect
  the fundamental freedoms of the EU (free movement of goods, persons, services and
  capital) and the limits set by Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006
  on the common system of value added tax (OJ L 347, 11.12.2006, as amended; the VAT
  Directive). Article 401 of this Directive lays down the rule on the levying of specific
  sales taxes. Member States may impose taxes on particular goods or services provided
  that such a tax does not constitute a general sales tax. In our view, the proposed
  specific tax constitutes an additional sales tax by its very nature, which is inconsistent
  with the relevant provision of the VAT Directive. On the basis of the above, we
  consider that the initiative to introduce a specific tax on exported logs cannot
  be supported.  '
response date: 2013-01-22
response due date: null
sent date: 2012-12-04
title: Tax
upvotes: 13
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/4049
