Investment in Italy

Investment in Italy9.Customs and excise and import VAT9.1European Community law and the customs systemCustoms law is the best example of harmonised international tax law.In Italian as in international customs law, there are three fundamental concepts:1 Classification of goods. This is necessary in order to select and apply the relevantcustoms rules for each movement of goods and thus to quote the import duty2 Origin of goods. For customs purposes, the origin of goods can be preferential or nonpreferential(‘made in’ labelling)3 Value of the transactions. According to article 29 of the Community Customs Code(“CCC” - Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92) the customs value of imported goodsis based on the transaction value, which is the price actually paid or payable for thegoods when sold for export to the customs territory of the Community.The current framework of customs law is a complex structure of national and Communityrules, which accumulated as the European integration process developed.9.2Customs declarationsCommunity law provides that all goods intended to be placed under a customs procedure areto be governed by a declaration for that procedure. The declarant indicates a wish to placegoods originating in third countries under a given customs procedure and furnishes informationabout the transaction. For each product, the declarant must indicate the classification code,origin, value, quantity, consignor and consignee, and the customs procedure.This basic information enables the customs authorities to determine the dutiable amountand must be supplemented with other information about the transaction concerned.The paperless scenarioSince the introduction of the Modernised Customs Code (“MCC” - Regulation (EC) no.450/2008), Community law requires paperless exchanges of information between differentauthorities and between authorities and economic operators, establishing that all dataexchange must take place through electronic data processing techniques.This innovation, among others anticipated by the Automatic Export System (AES), representsa paradigm shift in customs law: the key factor in the relationship between companies andcustoms authorities is now electronic data exchange.Article 8 (2) of the MCC establishes that customs authorities must maintain a regular dialoguewith economic operators. The same authorities must support transparency by makingavailable to the public - free of charge whenever possible - information about customs law,general administrative resolutions, and request forms.© 2012 KPMG S.p.A., KPMG Advisory S.p.A., KPMG Fides Servizi di Amministrazione S.p.A., KPMG Audit S.p.A., Italian limited liability share capital companies, and Studio Associato Consulenza legale e tributaria, anItalian professional partnership, are member firms of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.85