The Regional tax court of Milano upheld the arguments of Armella e Associati Law Firm, ruling that the indirect representative is not subject to Vat where the declaration for Vat exemption presented to customs have been proven not to be correct.

In particular, in the present case, Italian custom Authority contested both the importer and forwarder, as a joint liability, an increased Vat on import.

The Court has reached the decision, taking into account the orientation of the Community case-law on Vat on import issue, according to which the Vat on import cannot be considered as customs duty, and considering that Vat is not subject to the joint liability of the customs indirect representative.

The Regional tax court stated that it is irrelevant whether the declaration for Vat exemption presented to customs is correct or not, because the person who issued the deed is directly responsible and the importer has to pay the tax.