In Portugal, as in several other EU countries, VATable persons have been struggling to obtain the VAT exemption provided for the intra-EU supply of goods (ICS). Such limitations mainly result from wording of Portuguese domestic provisions equivalent to Article 138(1) of the VAT Directive (Article 14(a), of the RITI), which back the restrictive approach normally taken by the Portuguese VAT Authorities (PTA) when auditing the fulfilment in practice of the legal conditions for this VAT exemption.
