The situation
A non-EU client’s plan to import and sell goods in two member states
A freight forwarder in Rotterdam has won a US maker of outdoor equipment as a client. The client wants to import into the Netherlands, store there and deliver to retailers across the EU, and to import a second line directly into Valencia for the Spanish market. It has asked the forwarder to act as its fiscal representative, and finance has to answer by Friday.
The answer is different in each country, and so is the risk. Whether a representative is required at all, whether a limited form exists for goods that only pass through, and how far the representative is liable for the client’s VAT decide whether the forwarder says yes, and on what security.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- EU law lets member states require one
- The VAT Directive allows a member state to require a business established outside the EU to appoint a tax representative, where there is no mutual-assistance arrangement with the business’s country comparable to the EU’s own. Each member state decides whether to use that option.
- Spain requires one for most non-EU businesses
- Spanish law requires businesses established outside the EU to appoint a representative for their VAT obligations, with exceptions for countries that have mutual-assistance arrangements. The research confirms whether any exception covers the client’s country.
- The Netherlands: representation as an import route
- In the Netherlands fiscal representation is mainly used for imports. A limited representative can act for a non-EU business whose goods are imported and then supplied straight on to another member state, and a general representative can use the import VAT licence on the client’s behalf.
- The representative may share the liability
- A fiscal representative can be liable for the VAT of the business it represents. How far that liability goes, and the security the authority may ask for, are national rules the forwarder needs before agreeing terms.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
US manufacturer, no EU establishment, will import into the Netherlands for onward supply to retailers in other EU countries, and import directly into Spain for Spanish customers. Must it appoint a fiscal representative in each country? What does the representative do, and is it liable for the client’s VAT?
You start with
A non-EU client’s plan to import and sell goods in two member states
- 01
Describe the client and the flows
Give the client’s country, the import points and where goods are sold. azta searches the VAT Directive and the Dutch and Spanish VAT law.
Cited research· Free - 02
Read the representation rules
Open the cited Dutch and Spanish provisions in the reader, in the original language, with their in-force status.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the internal note
Ask for a note per country: required or not, which form, obligations and liability. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the decision
Export to Word for management and legal, with the citations on file.
Word export· Pro You send
A note on whether fiscal representation is required in each country and what it entails
What you get
A note on whether fiscal representation is required in each country and what it entails
Internal note · draft
Acting as fiscal representative for the US client
Netherlands. Goods imported in Rotterdam and supplied straight on to retailers in other member states can be handled under a limited fiscal representation. Goods stored in the Netherlands and sold from stock need a general fiscal representation, which brings more obligations and more liability.
Spain. The client is established outside the EU, and Spanish law requires it to appoint a representative for its Spanish VAT obligations unless an exception covers its country. We have no Spanish entity, so we propose that the client appoints a Spanish representative recommended by our Valencia agent.
Terms. Before we agree, the contract should cover a bank guarantee sized to our liability, monthly access to the client’s sales data and our right to resign if returns are late. Legal will draft these terms.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
20 minutes a month
At €85 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 29
- Capacity at your rate
- €2,448
- More fiscal representation notes a quarter
- 1.4
- Return on Pro
- 7.6×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoSources azta searches here
- EUR-Lex · Curia
- wetten.overheid.nl
- Belastingdienst
- BOE
What stays with you
- The decision to take on the client, and the liability that comes with it.
- The client’s figures and the returns themselves.
- Licences and security agreed with the tax authorities.
Frequently asked questions
- Is fiscal representation the same as customs representation?
- No. Customs representation, direct or indirect, is a separate role under the Union Customs Code. Ask about both and azta keeps the answers apart.
- Can azta draft the representation agreement?
- It can draft one in Canvas from your instructions and the rules it cites. Your legal team reviews it before it is signed.
- Can I ask about other member states?
- Yes. Name the countries and azta compares their rules, each row with the national provision.
