European Commission Adopts Proposal for Decision to Extend Latvia’s Special VAT Measure on Timber Transactions

The European Commission (EC) Nov. 21 adopted Proposed Council Implementing Decision No. COM (2024) 542, on amending Implementing Decision 2009/1008/EU to extend Latvia’s authorization for a special VAT measure deviating from Article 193 of EU Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT. The deviation allows Latvia to designate recipients of timber and related services as the party liable for VAT under the reverse charge mechanism. Reasons for the proposal include the timber market’s economic importance and susceptibility to VAT fraud, and the difficulty of tracking the movements of materials and related transactions. The reverse charge mechanism is intended to ...