1.Each Member State shall maintain an electronic database in which it shall store and process the information that it collects in accordance with Article 22(6)(b) in the version given in Article 28h of Directive 77/388/EEC.
To enable that information to be used in the procedures provided for in this Regulation, the information shall be stored for at least five years from the end of the calendar year in which access to the information is to be granted.
2.Member States shall ensure that their databases are kept up to date, and are complete and accurate.
Criteria shall be defined, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 44(2), to determine which changes are not pertinent, essential or useful and therefore need not be made.
On the basis of the data stored in accordance with Article 22, the competent authority of a Member State shall have communicated to it automatically and without delay by any other Member State the following information, to which it may also have direct access:
VAT identification numbers issued by the Member State receiving the information;
the total value of all intra-Community supplies of goods to persons holding a VAT identification number by all operators identified for the purposes of VAT in the Member State providing the information.
The values referred to in point 2 shall be expressed in the currency of the Member State providing the information and shall relate to calendar quarters.
On the basis of the data stored in accordance with Article 22 and solely in order to prevent a breach of VAT legislation, the competent authority of a Member State shall, wherever it considers it necessary for the control of intra-Community acquisitions of goods, obtain directly and without delay, or have direct access to by electronic means, any of the following information:
the VAT identification numbers of the persons who effected the supplies referred to in point 2 of Article 23; and
the total value of such supplies from each such person to each person holding a VAT identification number referred to in point 1 of Article 23.
The values referred to in point 2 shall be expressed in the currency of the Member State providing the information and shall relate to calendar quarters.
1.Where the competent authority of a Member State is obliged to grant access to information under Articles 23 and 24, it shall do so as soon as possible and within three months at the latest of the end of the calendar quarter to which the information relates.
2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, where information is added to a database in the circumstances provided for in Article 22, access to such additional information shall be granted as quickly as possible and no later than three months from the end of the quarter in which it was collected.
3.The conditions under which access to the corrected information may be granted shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 44(2).
Where, for the purposes of Articles 22 to 25, the competent authorities of the Member States store information in electronic databases and exchange such information by electronic means, they shall take all measures necessary to ensure compliance with Article 41.
1.Each Member State shall maintain an electronic database containing a register of persons to whom VAT identification numbers have been issued in that Member State.
2.At any time the competent authority of a Member State may obtain directly or have communicated to it, from the data stored in accordance with Article 22, confirmation of the validity of the VAT identification number under which a person has effected or received an intra-Community supply of goods or services.
On specific request, the requested authority shall also communicate the date of issue and, where appropriate, the expiry date of the VAT identification number.
3.On request, the competent authority shall also provide without delay the name and address of the person to whom the number has been issued, provided that such information is not stored by the requesting authority with a view to possible use at some future time.
4.The competent authorities of each Member State shall ensure that persons involved in the intra-Community supply of goods or of services and, for the period provided for in Article 4 of Directive 2002/38/EC, persons supplying services referred to in the last indent of Article 9(2)e of Directive 77/388/EEC are allowed to obtain confirmation of the validity of the VAT identification number of any specified person.
For the period provided for in Article 4 of Directive 2002/38/EC Member States shall, in particular, provide such confirmation by electronic means in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 44(2).
5.Where, for the purposes of paragraphs 1 to 4, the competent authorities of the Member States store information in electronic databases and exchange such information by electronic means, they shall take all measures necessary to ensure compliance with Article 41.