Doing business with USA member states

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some help if anyone has dealt with something similar before...
So—an American company is looking to buy a used yacht in Italy. The boat is currently flying a British flag (though I'm not entirely sure if that actually matters)—but we would need to execute an intra-community acquisition without physical delivery. Essentially, ownership would be transferred here in the US, while the yacht stays put in Italy. Is that even possible? And if it is—I guess—what specific steps would we be required to take??

feralorca92 said:Hi everyone! I’m looking for some help if anyone has dealt with something similar before...
So—an American company is looking to buy a used yacht in Italy. The boat is currently flying a British flag (though I'm not entirely sure if that actually matters)—but we would need to execute an intra-community acquisition without physical delivery. Essentially, ownership would be transferred here in the US, while the yacht stays put in Italy. Is that even possible? And if it is—I guess—what specific steps would we be required to take??

There’s no such thing as an acquisition without delivery—if the yacht belongs to an Italian firm, they’re going to charge their local sales tax since the boat isn't actually leaving Italy. As for the flag, that's probably just a registration issue...

Carol Price4 said:There’s no such thing as an acquisition without delivery—if the yacht belongs to an Italian firm, they’re going to charge their local sales tax since the boat isn't actually leaving Italy. As for the flag, that's probably just a registration issue...

But—could the ownership actually be transferred via an invoice from Italy to the US? And if so, how would they even handle the sales tax collection?? 🤔 🤔

feralorca92 said:But—could the ownership actually be transferred via an invoice from Italy to the US? And if so, how would they even handle the sales tax collection?? 🤔 🤔

Of course—you just include the change of ownership with the invoice. The US won't charge sales tax if the yacht stays anchored in Italy, so Italy handles the tax because that's where the boat is actually sitting...

Hi, I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find an answer anywhere.
Anyway, my question is:

-My company is receiving the goods, but the actual payer is a different company based here in the US. Does this count towards my Intrastat filing as a free receipt, or does it go under the Intrastat filing of the company actually paying for them as a purchase?

My gut feeling is that the physical receipt of the goods is what matters, meaning the company physically taking delivery is the one obligated to report it.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Come on, give me a bit more detail here—who is actually listed on the Invoice, and what’s the deal with this other company paying for your goods? We really need to clear up how these relationships work if you want a straight answer.

Carol Price4 said:Come on, give me a bit more detail here—who is actually listed on the Invoice, and what’s the deal with this other company paying for your goods? We really need to clear up how these relationships work if you want a straight answer.

The Bill lists them as the payer, but our address is under shipping.
I assume they're covering the costs because we're partners on this project.

If that’s how it works, then the goods go under the Intrastat filing for whoever the bill goes to—in your case, the payer. Since you're essentially performing work for them, it isn't actually your inventory; it's just being sent to your facility so you can integrate it into something else, I assume.

It’s their stock—it's just being delivered to, let's say, "their" warehouse located at your site...

Carol Price4 said:If that’s how it works, then the goods go under the Intrastat filing for whoever the bill goes to—in your case, the payer. Since you're essentially performing work for them, it isn't actually your inventory; it's just being sent to your facility so you can integrate it into something else, I assume.

It’s their stock—it's just being delivered to, let's say, "their" warehouse located at your site...

The goods we received are parts for a piece of equipment that we own. I assume we’ll be using this gear alongside the payer, and since it’s our property, it stays with us.

Look, if they’ve bought the goods, those items belong to them until they actually invoice you—period. If the bill was already in your name and they just covered the payment, then yeah, the stuff would be yours... but as it stands? It's their property.

Could someone please provide some clarity on this specific scenario?
An American trucking company provides transport services in Austria. They issue their invoices on a monthly basis. For example,
the invoice total is $10,000.00, and along with that outbound invoice, they attach various expenses incurred while operating in Austria—such as tolls, tunnel fees, fuel, etc.—which amount to, say, $8,000.00.
The final payment received into the foreign currency account is $2,000.00. However, the Austrian client refuses to accept a formal set-off or compensation arrangement. How should this business transaction be recorded within the sales tax books and the ZP?
Should the VAT and ZP forms reflect the full $10,000.00 since that is the total value of the outbound invoice? Furthermore, what gets entered into the KPI ledger? Since the Austrian client won't agree to a formal offset, can we handle the compensation unilaterally by issuing an invoice against the expenses incurred in Austria? Effectively, the client only pays the difference: $10,000.00 minus $8,000.00 equals $2,000.00. Note that all fuel and miscellaneous costs are billed directly to the American trucking company, which then seeks a VAT refund through an agency in Austria.

It seems you have all forgotten about me, and frankly, I am in quite a bind here.🙂

Come on, walk me through this a bit more...

An American carrier bills an Austrian client 10,000 euros—that part is simple enough.

Now, let's say those Austrian costs—tolls, fuel, all that stuff—add up to 8,000 euros. You’re saying the bills are made out to the American carrier, but who actually settles them???

The Austrian client wires over 2,000 euros, which is fine, but that leaves 8,000 euros sitting open on the IRA.

If the Austrian handles the bills over in Austria, you just book them in the URU to clear those expenses—and at the same time, you clear the IRA in kind.

At the end of the day, 10,000 goes into the ZP because that's what the IRA shows, regardless of how you choose to settle it.

So, I've got a bit of a headache here—the date on an incoming invoice from a supplier in the European Union says August 31st, but the actual payment and delivery didn't happen until September 3rd. Which date am I supposed to use when I'm logging this into my sales tax records? And what about Intrastat? Thanks!

Carol Price4 said:Look, if they’ve bought the goods, those items belong to them until they actually invoice you—period. If the bill was already in your name and they just covered the payment, then yeah, the stuff would be yours... but as it stands? It's their property.

Thanks 👍

Drew Rogers6 said:So, I've got a bit of a headache here—the date on an incoming invoice from a supplier in the European Union says August 31st, but the actual payment and delivery didn't happen until September 3rd. Which date am I supposed to use when I'm logging this into my sales tax records? And what about Intrastat? Thanks!

September👍

Carol Price4 said:September👍

Sales tax hits in August, then the refund rolls in by September...

Patrick Peterson49 said:Sales tax hits in August, then the refund rolls in by September...

The shipment actually happens in September—there’s no acquisition in August. Regardless of when the invoice hits, their tax year ends in August and the sales tax kicks in for September—though even if they file the sales tax in August, it won't change much since they're auditing everything on an annual basis anyway...

Carol Price4 said:The shipment actually happens in September—there’s no acquisition in August. Regardless of when the invoice hits, their tax year ends in August and the sales tax kicks in for September—though even if they file the sales tax in August, it won't change much since they're auditing everything on an annual basis anyway...

So how are we supposed to meet that requirement next month? You know, where the total value of acquired goods reported in field (13) can't be higher than the sum of those specific lines on the US Sales Tax return...
it basically means the number can't be bigger—but what happens if I get a vendor invoice dated December 31st and the stuff doesn't actually arrive until January 2nd? Even with an annual audit, that's still gonna be a mess...

Patrick Peterson49 said:So how are we supposed to meet that requirement next month? You know, where the total value of acquired goods reported in field (13) can't be higher than the sum of those specific lines on the US Sales Tax return...
it basically means the number can't be bigger—but what happens if I get a vendor invoice dated December 31st and the stuff doesn't actually arrive until January 2nd? Even with an annual audit, that's still gonna be a mess...

Just book that invoice in September—then both your sales tax and your tax filings will match up for the month.

Carol Price4 said:Just book that invoice in September—then both your sales tax and your tax filings will match up for the month.

So I called the IRS, and they're telling me the sales tax filing is due in month 8—but then Customs is out here saying Intrastat happens in month 9! 🙂