Intra-community trade statistics general guide 2021 Federal Statistical Office Published and distributed by: Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office), Wiesbaden Subject-related information General information on this publication: on the data supply: Division G 3 Information service tel: +49 (0) 611 / 75 45 25 tel: +49 (0) 611 / 75 24 05 fax: +49 (0) 611 / 75 39 65 fax: +49 (0) 611 / 75 33 30 [email protected] www.destatis.de/kontakt Printed on 100% recycled paper. © Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden 2021 Reproduction and distribution, also of parts, are permitted provided that the source is mentioned. Preliminary remarks on the 23th edition The Intra-Community Trade Statistics General Guide basically includes any information and codes (with the exception of the commodity code box) required for preparing an Intrastat declaration. For illustration purposes, the general guide uses the online form declaration as an example. Here the terms "dispatch" and "arrival" are used as synonyms for exports and imports of goods to/from other EU Member States, respectively. The commodity codes to be entered in box 13 are to be taken from the Warenverzeichnis für die Außen- handelsstatistik (Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics) which can be obtained from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. The price of the current 2021 printed edition (incl. index) is EUR 38.00, and the price of the CD-ROM (incl. a comfortable search program and explanations) as single user licence is EUR 45.00, each plus shipping cost. However, the individual chapters of the Warenverzeichnis für die Außenhandelsstatistik (Commodity Classification for Foreign Trade Statistics) and the Combined Nomenclature can be downloaded free of charge from the home page of the Federal Statistical Office (http://www.destatis.de) under the keyword “Wirtschaft/Publikationen”. The present general guide is based on the relevant legal provisions as of November 2020. The latest version of the general guide can also be accessed via the Federal Statistical Office's home page at https://www-idev.destatis.de/idev/doc/intra_en/doc/IntraCommunity.pdf. In anticipation of a future mandatory indication of both the EU trading partner’s VAT identification number and the country of origin of goods on the dispatch side, boxes for this have been integrated into the relevant online form. Entering information in these boxes is voluntary and the boxes can therefore be left empty during the reference year 2021. However, the two variables will be mandatory variables as of 1 January 2022. If no intra-Community trade in goods took place in a month, a so-called nil report for online form declarations can be submitted for the relevant direction of trade through the IDEV online reporting portal. The United Kingdom (Great Britain) left the European Union (at midnight) on 31 January 2020 ("Brexit"). From an EU perspective, it has been regarded as a third country from the next day onwards. As far as intra- Community trade statistics are concerned, the obligation to submit data to the Federal Statistical Office on all movements of goods to or from the United Kingdom continues during a transitional period until the reference month of December 2020 (data transmission until 15 January 2021). The following applies to the reference year 2021: Based on the state of knowledge on 1 November 2020, customs declarations including the country code “GB” will have to be be submitted for movements of goods to or from Great Britain (i.e. United Kingdom excl. Northern Ireland). As the Federal Statistical Office receives the relevant customs data for compiling foreign trade statistics, (further) intra-Community trade declarations must not be additionally submitted for these movements of goods. In this context, Northern Ireland will still be treated as being part of the EU. This means that no customs declarations have to be compiled for the movements of goods concerned. - To provide the information needed for foreign trade statistics, however, the trade in goods with Northern Ireland must still be declared, using the country code “XI”, for the purpose of intra-Community trade statistics. For this reason, keep abreast of the latest reports in the media and the information provided on the websites of the customs administration (www.zoll.de) and the Federal Statistical Office (www.destatis.de). We will publish the latest information about the declaration procedure on the help pages for intra-Community trade statistics declarations (https://www-idev.destatis.de/idev/doc/intra/hilfe.html) as soon as the relevant political decisions have been taken. On 1 January 2020 first changes to the VAT rules will come into force as part of the EU VAT reform (so-called “quick fixes”). This will also cause some changes in the obligation to provide information on supplies of consignment stock for the purpose of intra-Community trade statistics. Please see example k) in chapter 9.1 for more information on this issue. Selling a treated or processed commodity e.g. to a foreign EU customer has two major effects on intra- Community trade statistics. Please see chapter 9.5 Processing under contract (treatment or processing) for the relevant information and other important notes. Federal Statistical Office, Intra-Community Trade Statistics General Guide 3 Note pursuant to Article 17 of the Federal Statistics Law As stipulated by law, the respondents providing information for the purpose of intra-Community trade statistics are notified in Annex 6 of • the purpose, type and scope of the survey, • statistical confidentiality, • their obligation to provide information, etc. 4 Federal Statistical Office, Intra-Community Trade Statistics General Guide List of contents Page 1. General notes ........................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Obligation to provide information ........................................................................................ 7 1.3 Exemptions ......................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Scope of application ........................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Reference period ................................................................................................................. 9 1.6 Transmission of declarations ............................................................................................... 9 2. Reporting procedures ............................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Electronic reporting procedures ........................................................................................... 9 2.2 Exceptions from electronic reporting procedures ................................................................. 10 3. Compilation of the declarations ................................................................................................ 10 3.1 General ............................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Combined entries of several transactions ............................................................................. 10 3.3 Corrections ......................................................................................................................... 10 3.4 Questions on how to complete the declarations .................................................................. 11 4. Checking procedures in intra-Community trade statistics .......................................................... 11 4.1 Checks upon data arrival ...................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Checks of individual data ..................................................................................................... 11 4.3 Checks using data from tax authorities ................................................................................. 11 4.4 Consequences of non-compliance with the obligation to provide information ....................... 11 5. Notes on individual boxes of the Intrastat declaration .............................................................. 13 5.1 Dispatches of goods to other EU member states .................................................................. 13 5.2 Arrival of goods from other EU member states ...................................................................... 21 6. Instructions regarding the declaration of partial consignments ................................................. 27 7. Simplified declaration of goods of types transported in the form of single consignment ........... 27 8. Declaration of complete industrial plants .................................................................................. 28 9. Examples and special cases ...................................................................................................... 31 9.1 Obligation to submit declarations (e.g. individuals, triangular transaction) ........................... 31 9.2 Goods returned and credits ................................................................................................. 37 9.3 Subsequent contract alterations .........................................................................................