VAT implications of transactions with vouchers issued as of 20 April 2019

In brief

Law no. 60/2019 has been published, amending and completing Law no. 227/2015 on the Fiscal Code transposing Council Directive (EU) 2016/1065 dated 27 June 2016 amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards the VAT treatment applicable to vouchers.

European Union Member States should have transposed the EU provisions regardng the VAT treatment applicable to transactions with vouchers into their national legislation by 1 January 2019.

In detail

Law no. 60/2019 brings the following clarifications regarding the VAT treatment applicable to operations involving the use of vouchers:

1. The term "voucher" used in the national VAT legislation will be replaced by the term "value coupon" (i.e. in Romanian language “cupon valoric”).

2. The vouchers are defined as instruments that require the acceptance of the partial / full price for deliveries of goods / services and which indicate either in their content or in the related documentation the goods / services to be delivered / provided or the identity of the potential suppliers / providers.

3. There are two types of vouchers:

single-purpose voucher - those for which the place of supply of the goods / services and the VAT due on those goods / services are known at the time of issuing the voucher; and
multi-purpose voucher - any voucher other than a single-purpose voucher.

4. The VAT implications of the transaction with vouchers.

4.1 Single purpose vouchers:

Voucher sale: Every person who sells a voucher in their own name is considered a buyer-reseller of the goods / services related to that voucher and has to collect the corresponding VAT properly.
Intermediation in the sale of a voucher: If an intermediary acts in the name and on behalf of another taxable person in connection with the sale of a voucher, the delivery of the goods / services associated with that voucher will be performed by that other taxable person, not by the intermediary.
Voucher use: the supply of goods / services in exchange for a voucher, performed by a supplier, involves two operations:
A supply of goods / services rendered by the supplier to the voucher issuer, for the part covered by the voucher, which is settled in relation to it;
A supply of goods / services rendered by the supplier to the voucher holder for the part not covered by the voucher.

4.2 Multi-purpose vouchers:

Voucher sale: such an operation is outside the scope of VAT, so there is no obligation to collect VAT;
Intermediation in the sale of a voucher: an intermediary acting in the name and on behalf of another taxable person in connection with the sale of a voucher is deemed to carry out the distribution or promotion of vouchers, which falls within the VAT scope;
Voucher use: the supply of goods / services in exchange for a voucher is a supply of goods / services provided by the supplier of the goods / services to the voucher holder;
The taxable base of the delivery of goods / services rendered partly / totally by a voucher: the amount paid for the voucher or - in the absence of this information - the amount indicated on the voucher, already includes VAT.

Law no. 60/2019 provides that these clarifications will only be applicable to the vouchers issued after the law enters into force, i.e. as of 20 April 2019.

In light of the above, we expect that Government Decision no. 1/2016 approving the Methodological Norms for the application of Law no. 227/2015 of the Fiscal Code to be amended in order to align with the new VAT provisions applicable to transactions with vouchers.

[Source: Law no. 60/2019 amending and completing Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code, published in the Official Gazette no. 296 on 17 april 2019]

The takeaway

Law no. 60/2019 clarifies the VAT treatment applicable to vouchers issued after the law enters into force, i.e. as of 20 April 2019. We recommend that all companies which issue, market, intermediate and / or receive vouchers as payment, analyse these transactions, whether local or cross-border, to identify potential VAT implications (e.g. the place of taxation, taxable base, VAT chargeability, VAT deduction right).

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