Legal Alert Inter Community Commodity Trade Statistics Act



 

INTER-COMMUNITY COMMODITIES TRADE STATISTICS ACT 

(IN FORCE AS OF 01 SEPTEMBER 2006) 

In State Gazette No 51/23.06.2006 an Inter-Community Commodities Trade Statistics Act was published. The Act enters into force on 01.09.2006.

The Act was adopted in view of Bulgaria’s obligation as a future EU Member State to submit statistical data regarding the Inter-Community trade through the Intrastat system.

Some of the most important regulations set forth in the Act are summarized below.

1. Subject of Declaration under Intrastat system

Intrastat is a system designed to pool data only regarding the movement of Community goods1 between EU Member-States. Services are not subject to declaring.

The movement of goods is determined as “dispatches”2 or “arrivals”3 depending on the direction of the movement of the goods within the Community.

2. Persons Obliged to Submit Intrastat Returns

The obligation to submit Intrastat returns arises for all operators registered for VAT purposes who carry out Intra-Community commodities trade exceeding the legally set forth dispatches and arrivals thresholds.

3. Declaration and Statistical Value Thresholds

(i) Declaration Thresholds

The obligation to submit Intrastat returns arises only when the declaration thresholds (exclusive thresholds) have been exceeded. When the annual Intra-Community trade amounts do not reach the thresholds the operators are not bound to declare the transactions carried out.

Depending on whether the operator’s annual Intra-Community trade amounts exceed only the arrivals threshold or only the dispatches threshold solely an Arrivals Return, or respectively, a Dispatches Return needs to be submitted. In case both dispatches and arrivals go beyond the thresholds the operator needs to file both Dispatches and Arrivals Returns.