Intra-community Transfer of Goods

Let’s say that our goods are already in Europe in a warehouse in Czechia, and Amazon decides to move them to a warehouse in Germany so they are closer to the customer. The goods leave the Czech market and enter the German market. This is called intra-community transfer of goods.

We don’t charge Czech 21 % VAT on the transfer of goods in Czechia since the intra-community supply is VAT exempt (the expected consumer is outside of the country).

In Germany, we are only required to report it - the same principle we saw with the imports. We account for the extra 19 % VAT for the intra-community acquisition of the goods, but at the same time, we deduct the same amount at the input. The reason to account for it is to “set it up” for the next buyer so he could make standard deductions. And the reason for the postponement, again, is to pay the tax at the right time we have cash.

Explore more insightful links related to this topic to help you better understand European VAT:

Amazon as Deemed Reseller

How VAT Works When You Sell in Europe from U.S.

Amazon VAT knowledge center

EC Explanatory Notes on VAT e-commerce rules

European Commission web page for VAT

VAT directive

Implementing regulation