The Registry of Intra-Community Operators (ROI)

In an increasingly globalized, digitized and borderless world, with express transportation services that often manage to get our goods purchased through web platforms to us in less than 24 hours from the comfort of our own doorstep, it has now become almost impossible for any company or freelancer not to deal with foreign clients or suppliers, particularly (This being the topic centred in the context of the European Union) from another EU member state other than Spain.

Let’s imagine BarcelonaGlobalService itself that, in addition to having the vast majority of its clientele coming from other EU countries, often has recourse to suppliers (Sworn Translation Agencies, appraisers, notaries, technology service providers, software licenses, etc…) that invoice from other countries to Spain: vice versa, BarcelonaGlobalService invoices very often to companies that are located beyond the Spanish borders (But within the EU).

EU VAT legislation recognizes, for companies (SL, SLU, SA, SRL, SPA, etc…) and freelancers (Self-employed, i.e., VAT numbers) the possibility of carrying out similar intra-Community transactions, sales and purchases, without the application of the corresponding VAT (Which, in the case of Spain for services, corresponds to 21%), which translates into various advantages for both the invoice giver and the invoice receiver.

Of course, the exemption of VAT (Spanish or from other EU countries) on purchases and sales is only possible if the two parties are both registered as “Intra-Community Operators,” an acronym that in Spain is known as ROI (Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios), which is the registry part of the EU system called VIES (VAT Information Exchange System).

The Register of Intra-Community Operators consists of those persons or entities that have been assigned the tax identification number regulated for value added tax purposes by Article 25 of this Regulation and are in one of the following situations:

1.            Persons or entities that will make intra-Community supplies or purchases of goods subject to this tax.

2.            Persons or entities referred to in Article 14 of Law 37/1992 of December 28 on Value Added Tax, when they make intra-Community purchases of goods subject to this tax. In this case, the entry in this register determines the assignment to the requesting person or entity of the tax identification number governed by Article 25 of these Regulations. The circumstance that the persons or entities referred to in Article 14 of Law 37/1992 of December 28 on Value Added Tax cease to be registered in the Register of Intra-Community Operators, because the intra-Community purchases of goods they make are not subject to the tax in accordance with the provisions of this rule, shall result in the automatic revocation of the specific tax identification number governed by Article 25 of this Regulation.

3.            Merchants or professionals who are recipients of services provided by merchants or professionals who are not established in the territory where value added tax applies and for which they are taxable persons.

4.            Merchants or professionals who provide services that, under the location rules, are deemed to be provided in the territory of another member state where the taxable person is the customer.

It is not uncommon for the Agencia Tributaria to conduct checks before accepting your registration in the ROI to see if you need to be listed.

These checks may include a visit by a tax inspector to the headquarters of the company (or the self-employed person) in the weeks following the request. At other times, they may be limited to a request for documentation proving the existence of suppliers or customers making intra-Community transactions by electronically sending a “requerimiento.”

Whether you are a company (Such as an SL) or a self-employed person (Autonomo), in order to apply for registration with the ROI you need to have various requirements and documents (This system is adopted by the Spanish Agencia tributaria in order to avoid possible VAT abuse and fraud at the EU level), such as:

– Already be registered as a self-employed person or, if so, you may apply for ROI when filing Form 036 for registration as a self-employed person

– Be (in the case of companies) already registered as SL, SLU or SA

– Prove that, indeed, you physically reside in Spain (Often, a certificate of “empadronamiento” is required for this purpose)

– Prove that, indeed, you have business relations with foreign clients and/or suppliers (Within the EU): for this purpose the Agencia Tributaria may consider valid business agreements signed by both parties, orders, written agreements prior to purchase or sale (thus exchanges of correspondence with other companies), collaboration contracts (All this documentation must be produced in Spanish or, failing that, accompanied by a sworn translation)

– Produce a detailed report explaining exactly what the activity consists of and, consistent with this, the need to approach foreign suppliers or clients

– Often the Agencia Tributaria may deem it appropriate, through a “requerimiento,” to produce additional documentation to that just listed

Registering in the ROI can be done in person at an office of the Agencia Tributaria, although it is definitely advisable to do it telematically through the use of a “Certificado Digital,” or through the credentials of an external tax advisor (“Colaborador social de la AEAT”) to whom you wish to apply.

It does not matter to be in possession of a “Certificado de registro de ciudadano de la Union Europea” (EU resident’s green card – erroneously and vulgarly called a “green NIE”) but, just as to become self-employed, for the purpose of ROI registration you may very well use the NIE in white document format, i.e., “Certificado de no residente” (erroneously and vulgarly called a “white NIE”).

Need advice on registering in the Spanish ROI in less than 24 hours? Contact BarcelonaGlobalService now at francesco@barcelonaglobalservice.com or via our online contact form (https://barcelonaglobalservice.com/contacto/)

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