Title IV: Taxable transactions

Chapter 1: Supply of goods

Article 17a [1]

1. The transfer by a taxable person of goods forming part of his business assets to another Member State under call-off stock arrangements shall not be treated as a supply of goods for consideration.

2. For the purposes of this Article, call-off stock arrangements shall be deemed to exist where the following conditions are met:

1. goods are dispatched or transported by a taxable person, or by a third party on his behalf, to another Member State with a view to those goods being supplied there, at a later stage and after arrival, to another taxable person who is entitled to take ownership of those goods in accordance with an existing agreement between both taxable persons;

2. the taxable person dispatching or transporting the goods has not established his business nor has a fixed establishment in the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported;

3. the taxable person to whom the goods are intended to be supplied is identified for VAT purposes in the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported and both his identity and the VAT identification number assigned to him by that Member State are known to the taxable person referred to in point (b) at the time when the dispatch or transport begins;

4. the taxable person dispatching or transporting the goods records the transfer of the goods in the register provided for in Article 243(3) and includes the identity of the taxable person acquiring the goods and the VAT identification number assigned to him by the Member State to which the goods are dispatched or transported in the recapitulative statement provided for in Article 262(2).

3. Where the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are met, the following rules shall apply at the time of the transfer of the right to dispose of the goods as owner to the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2, provided that the transfer occurs within the deadline referred to in paragraph 4:

1. a supply of goods in accordance with Article 138(1) shall be deemed to be made by the taxable person that dispatched or transported the goods either by himself or by a third party on his behalf in the Member State from which the goods were dispatched or transported;

2. an intra-Community acquisition of goods shall be deemed to be made by the taxable person to whom those goods are supplied in the Member State to which the goods were dispatched or transported.

4. If, within 12 months after the arrival of the goods in the Member State to which they were dispatched or transported, the goods have not been supplied to the taxable person for whom they were intended, referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 and paragraph 6, and none of the circumstances laid down in paragraph 7 have occurred, a transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place on the day following the expiry of the 12-month period.

5. No transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place where the following conditions are met:

1. the right to dispose of the goods has not been transferred, and those goods are returned to the Member State from which they were dispatched or transported within the time limit referred to in paragraph 4; and

2. the taxable person who dispatched or transported the goods records their return in the register provided for in Article 243(3).

6. Where, within the period referred to in paragraph 4, the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 is substituted by another taxable person, no transfer within the meaning of Article 17 shall be deemed to take place at the time of the substitution, provided that:

1. all other applicable conditions in paragraph 2 are met; and

2. the substitution is recorded by the taxable person referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2 in the register provided for in Article 243(3).

7. Where, within the time limit referred to in paragraph 4, any of the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 ceases to be fulfilled, a transfer of goods according to Article 17 shall be deemed to take place at the time that the relevant condition is no longer fulfilled.

If the goods are supplied to a person other than the taxable person referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 or in paragraph 6, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled immediately before such supply.

If the goods are dispatched or transported to a country other than the Member State from which they were initially moved, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled immediately before such dispatch or transport starts.

In the event of the destruction, loss or theft of the goods, it shall be deemed that the conditions set out in paragraphs 2 and 6 cease to be fulfilled on the date that the goods were actually removed or destroyed, or, if it is impossible to determine that date, the date on which the goods were found to be destroyed or missing.