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Unlike other Countries, the Republic of San Marino has not VAT regime on goods and services, but it applies an indirect “monofase” (single-phase) tax to goods imported into San Marino. Goods are therefore imported into the Republic under a VAT exemption regime, whereas some raw materials have a reduced tax rate as described in the following paragraphs.
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For the purchase of operating assets, a 1% monofase tax rate is applied (see the relevant law in the following paragraphs).
Cars are considered operating assets and a 7% monofase tax rate is applied on new cars whereas a 3.5% tax rate is applied on used vehicles.
The monofase taxation is applied to all imports of goods arriving into the Republic of San Marino (VAT-exempt purchases) from Italy, from EU and non-EU Countries, and it is regulated by Law no. 40 dated 1972 and subsequent amendments.
The latest amendment to the ordinary tax rate is regulated by the Delegated Decree No. 183 dated 22/11/11 where Article 1 states:
“The tax rate on imports is equal to 17% of the taxable base”.
Advantages of the monofase regime compared to VAT
| Leather bag | Buying price | Selling price | Monofase 17% | VAT 22% | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example of the calculation of the profit on a leather item | |||||
| Sale in San Marino | 100 € | 200 € | 17 € | – | 83 € |
| Sale in Italy | 100 € | 200 € | – | 36 € | 64 € |
| Computer | Buying price | Selling price | Monofase 17% | VAT 22% | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example of the calculation of the profit of a computer accessory | |||||
| Sale in San Marino | 1,000 € | 1,500 € | 170 € | – | 330 € |
| Sale in Italy | 1,000 € | 1,500 € | – | 270 € | 230 € |
Reduced monofase tax rates for operating assets
The relevant regulations is laid down inDecree No. 135 dated 27/10/03 and subsequent modifications (Law No. 194 dated 22/12/10 e Delegated Decree No. 129 dated 10/08/12)
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Ordinary operating assets are those goods essential to the ongoing operations of a business (such as electronic office equipment, machineries, plant, equipment, furniture and fixtures) and their tax rate is set 1%.
With regard to lorries, they are also considered ordinary operating assets, however they must be provided with a suitable certification on the vehicle registration. The 1% tax rate is also applied to spare parts for the ordinary maintenance when they exceed the 5% of the relevant value of the item. In order to benefit from a reduced tax rate, the assets must have a unit value higher that 250,00€; should the value be lower, the favourable tax treatment is applied to single purchases of homogeneous assets having an overall value higher than 500,00€.
Note in case of used goods, the tax rate is reduced to 0.5%.
Reduced monofase tax rate for new and used cars
In order to benefit from a reduced tax rate, the applicant must hold a suitable license or certification.
The operating assets for both private and business use are goods that do not only perform their function within the scope of the business, but they can also be used for private purposes, as for example cars.
Vehicles generally have a 17% tax rate, which is reduced if they are used cars. It should be underlined that cars are considered used if they have been registered for at least 6 months and with a mileage which is over 6,000 km.
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Vehicles can be considered operating assets for both private and business use and benefit from a reduced tax rate equal to 7% (also in this case the tax rate for used goods is reduced to: 3.5%) if they have:
- closed body (non convertible)
- seating not less than 5 people
- max diesel engine displacement cc 3,000
- max petrol engine displacemnt cc 2,000
The reduced tax rate benefit is applicable only to one vehicle; an additional reduced tax rate can be obtained for each holder of a joint license and for each 5 employees under an indefinite term contract, for a maximum number of 20 vehicles.
Note All goods purchased in Italy, EU or non EU countries for an amount higher than 5,000 euro must be accompanied by an electronic document. This must be requested by sending via fax the delivery note to the Corpo della Guardia di Rocca (Guard of the Rock) Customs Authority, which can send back still via fax the above document accompanied by the digital stamp or it reserves the right to perform control of the goods within 48 hours from transmission of the DDT.
Reduced monofase tax rates for food products and other
With regard to the special tax rates, these are regulated by Decree No. 108 dated 2/10/97
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- Food (dairy product, vegetables, flour, pasta, etc…) some other product categories have a 2% tax rate
- Complete list of products with a 2% tax rate
Chart “A” Delegated Decree No. 108 dated 2/10/97
1) Fresh milk, neither concentrate nor sugared, aimed at alimentary consumption, packaged for retail sale, treated through pasteurization or other treatment as provided by the relevant Health Laws;
2) butter, milk and dairy products;
3) vegetable and edible vegetables, with the exclusion of fresh or frozen truffles, or provisionally preserved in brine, sulphur dioxide gas, sulphur water, or in other preservative solutions, but unsuitable in that state for immediate consumption; dried, dehydrated, or evaporated, whole, cut or sliced, but not further prepared;
4) vegetables and edible vegetables, also cooked, frozen or quick frozen;
5) dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned, and broken;
6) edible fruit, fresh, dried or temporarily preserved; fruit, whether
cooked, frozen or quick frozen, with no added sugar;
7) wheat, including meslin, rye; maize; rice; paddy rice; barley, with the exception of the barley seeds for planting; oat, buckwheat, millet, canary grass, sorghum and certain minor cereals, only for zootechnical use;
8) maize flours and rye flour, maize and rye; barley meal; oatmeal, rice flour and certain minor cereals, only for zootechnical use;
9) wheat, maize, rye and barley, whether sliced or kibbled; rice, oat and certain minor cereals, whether sliced or kibbled, only for zootechnical use;
10) germ of the corn for oil extraction; oil seed and oleaginous fruits for oil extraction, with the exclusion of linseeds and castor beans, whether or not broken;
11) olive oil; vegetable oil intended for human or animal consumption, including crude oil for refining processes for use in foodstuff;
12) animal or vegetable fats;
13) pasta; crackers, rusks; bread, ship’s biscuits and other ordinary bakers’ wares, not containing added sugar, honey, eggs, cheese; pastry, biscuits and cakes ad other fine bakers’ ware containing butter, olive oil- refined olive pomace oil excluded – and lard, whether or not emulsified, as well as milk and powdered milk, grape must, muscat grape and other raisins, figs, olives, anise, oregano, cumin, sesame, malt, saccharose and dextrose;
14) peeled tomatoes and canned tomatoes; olives preserved in brine;
15) bran, sharps, and other residues derived from the sifting, milling or other working of cereals and of leguminous plants;
16)feed materials of plant origin; feed containing cereals and/or related flour and/or sugar; compound feed containing, by more than 50%, cereals included in this chart, with the exclusion of dog or cat food put up for retail sale;
17) fertilizers (products, minerals, organic and organo-mineral fertilizers, belonging to the category of “fertilizers” and “soil conditioner and corrective”; vermicompost or humus produced through worm farming) except for those products whose requirements do not comply with the provisions currently in force;
18) products intended for agricultural use, including breeders, imported by individuals, institutions and companies engaged in agricultural activities in the Republic of San Marino, except for those engaged in the marketing and processing of the products;
19) printed musical editions, maps including printed globes; paper for the printing of magazines and daily newspapers, books, periodical publishings, except for adult magazines and periodicals and for catalogues other than those of the book publishing sector and related services;
20) orthopaedic appliances (including medical-surgical belts); and other fracture appliances (splints and the like); dental fittings and ophthalmology appliances and the like; hearing aids and other appliances which are worn or carried or implanted in the body to compensate for a defect or disability; and in general the mobility devices used to treat permanent human disabilities and the technical and IT aids aimed at improving the self-reliance and social integration of people with physical disabilities;
21) armchiars and other carriages for disabled persons, whether or not motorised or otherwise mechanically propelled, including stair-lifts and the like in order to eliminate the architectural barriers for people with reduced mobility; vehicles with an engine capacity no greater than 2,000 cubic centimetres, if provided with a petrol engine, and 2,500 cubic centimetres, if provided with a diesel engine, fitted for invalid drivers, holders of driving licence issued in accordance with article 11 of Law no.106 dated 20 September 1985;
22) therapeutic gases; artificial kidneys;
23) spare parts, replacement parts and accessories intended for use only on the items under the previous headings 20), 21) and 22);
24) beneficial organisms (beneficial insects and mites) used in agriculture in order to keep pest populations under control;
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- The tax rate for animals and meat from animals (bovine animals, sheep, pigs, rabbits, etc…) and some other product categories amounts to 6%
- Complete list of the products with a 6% tax rate
Chart “B” Delegated Decree N0. 108 dated 2/10/97
1) Live horses, asses, mules and hinnies;
2) live bovine animals, including the buffalo, porcine, ovine and caprine species;
3) meat and edible meat offal of the equine, asinine, mules, bovine (including the buffalo), suine, ovine and caprine species, fresh, chilled or frozen), suine, ovine and caprine species, fresh, chilled or frozen, salted or in brine, dried or smoked;
4) edible meat offal of the equine, asinine, mules, bovine (including the buffalo), suine, ovine and caprine species, fresh, chilled or frozen, salted or in brine, dried or smoked;
5) live poultry; or edible slaughtered poultry, fresh, chilled, frozen or deep frozen;
6) meat, offal (including edible livers) and parts of animals not referred under heading no.5, fresh, chilled, salted or in brine, dried or smoked, frozen or deep frozen;
7) rabbits, pigeons, hares, partridges, pheasants, frogs and other live animals intended for human consumption; their meat, parts and offal, fresh, chilled, salted or in brine, dried or smoked; bees and silkworms; fresh fish (live or slaughtered), chilled, frozen or deep frozen not intended for human consumption;
8) edible meat, offal and parts of rabbits, pigeons, hares, partridges and pheasants, frozen or deep frozen;
9) unrendered poultry fat, fresh, chilled, salted or in brine, dried, smoked, frozen or deep frozen;
10) lard, including unrendered pig fat, fresh, chilled, frozen or deep frozen, salted or in brine, dried or smoked;
11) yoghurt, kephir, fresh milk, curdled milk, whey, buttermilk and other types of fermented or acidified milk;
12) condensed, concentrated or sweetened milk;
13) cream, whether fresh, condensed, concentrated or sweetened;
14) birds’ eggs and egg yolks in shell, fesh or preserved;
15) birds’ eggs and egg yolks, dried or otherwise preserved, whether sweetened or not, intended for human consumption;
16) natural honey;
17) gutts, bladders and stomachs of animals (other than fish), whole and pieces thereof, intended for human or animal consumption;
18) raw, defatted or simply processed bones, acitreated with acid or degelatinised, powder and waste thereof, intended for animal consumption;
19) animal products not elsewhere specified or included, with the exclusion of sinews, tendons, parings and similar wastes of untanned and raw skins;
20) vegetables and edible plants, except for truffles, whether broken or in powder, but not further prepared; manioc, arrowroot, salep, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes and similar roots and tubers with high starch or inulin content, whether or not dried or sliced; sago pith;
21)wine grape;
22)peel of citrus fruit or melons, fresh, except for those fozen, provisionally preserved in brine, in sulphur water, or in other preservative solutions, whether fresh or dried;
23) tea, matè;
24) barley for sowing; oats, buckwheat, millet, canary seed, sorghum and certain minor cereals, only intended for uses other than zootechnical;
25) oats and certain minor cereals intended for uses other than zootechnical;
26) groats and meal of barley, oats and certain minor cereals; hulled, pearled, flaked; germ of cereals, also cereal flour;
27) rice, oats, and certain minor cereals, hulled or kibbled, intended for uses other than zootechnical;
28) flour of the dried leguminous vegetables (of peas, beans, lentils, fava beans, and the other dried leguminous vegetables, except for soya and locust beans); powders of fruits (of chestnuts, almonds, dates, bananas, coconuts and the like); flour and meal of sago, manioc, arrowroot, salep, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes and similar roots and tubers with high starch or inulin content; flour; meal and potato flakes;
29) malt, whether or not roasted;
30) starches; inulin;
31) gluten and gluten meal, whether or not roasted;
32) linseeds and castor seeds; other oil seeds and oleaginous fruit other than broken not intended for oil extraction;
33) flours and meals of oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, non defatted, other than those of mustard;
34) seeds, spores and fruit used for sowing;
35) sugarbeet, whether or not sliced in dried or fresh chips;
36) hop cones;
37) chicory roots, fresh or dried, whether or not sliced, not roasted; locust beans, whether fresh or dried; fruit kernels and other vegetable products mainly used for human consumption, not elsewhere specified or included;
38) cereal stroll and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped;
39) mangolds, swedes, fodder roots; hay, lucerne (alfalfa), sainfoin, clover, forage kale, lupines, vetches and similar forage products;
40) vegetable saps and extracts; manna;
41) seaweeds;
42) lard and other rendered pig fats; rendered goose or other poultry fats;
43) unrendered fats (of bovine animals, sheep or goats), tallow (including premier jus) produced from those fats and intended for human or animal consumption;
44) lard stearin, oleastearin, lard oil and oleo-oil not emulsified or mixed or otherwise prepared, intended for human or animal consumption;
45) fats and oils of fish and marine mammals, whether or not refined, intended for human or animal consumption;
46) other animal fats and oils intended for animal feeding; crude vegetable oils intended for human or animal consumption other than those subject to the 2% tax rate;
47) animal or vegetable fats and oils wholly or partially hydrogenated and animal or vegetable fats and oils solidified or hardened through any process, whether or not refined, other than prepared, intended for human or animal consumption;
48) imitation lard and other prepared edible fats;
49) raw beeswax;
50) sausages and similar products of pigmeat, meat offal or blood;
51) other prepared or preserved meat or meat offal, other than those of goose or duck livers or of game;
52) prepared or preserved fish, other than caviar and caviar substitutes; crustaceans and molluscs (shellfish excluded), prepared or preserved crayfish, lobsters and oysters excluded;
53) other sugars in solid form, other than those containing added flavouring or colouring matter; sugar syrups not containing added flavouring or colouring matter; artificial honey, whether or not mixed with natural honey; sugar and caramel; intended for human or animal consumption;
54) molasses intended for human or animal consumption, other than those containing added flavouring or colouring matter;
55) sugar-based products not containing cocoa (sweets and candies, chewing gum, lozenges, torrone (nougat) and the like) packed into ordinary boxes packages and containers, such as paper, cardboard, plastic, tinplate, tinfoil or glass;
56) not sweetened cocoa powder;
57) chocolate and food preparations containing cocoa packed into ordinary boxes and containers, such as paper, cardboard, plastic, tinplate, tinfoil or glass ;
58) malt extracts; preparations for infants, for dietetic or cooking purposes, containing flour, meal, starches or malt extract, whether or not containing cocoa less than 50% by weight;
59) tapioca, including potato starch;
60) breads, cakes or pastries, whether or not containing added cocoa in any proportion;
61) vegetables, other edible parts of plants, and fruits, prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid, whether or not containing salt, spices, mustard or sugar;
62) vegetables and other edible parts of plants (truffles excluded) prepared or preserved without the use of vinegar or acetic acid;
63) frozen fruit and nut, containing added sugar;
64) fruit, nuts, fruit peel, plants and parts of plants, preserved by sugar (drained, glacé, crystallized);
65) fruit purée and pastes, fruit jellies, marmalades, obtained by cooking, whether or not containing added sugar;
66) fruit and nuts otherwise prepared or preserved, whether or not containing added sugar;
67) roasted chicory and other roasted coffee substitutes and extracts; extracts or essences of coffee, tea, matè and chamomile; and preparations with a basis of these extracts and essences;
68) mustard flour and meal and prepared mustard;
69) sauces; mixed condiments, preparation of soups and broths; soups and broths and preparations thereof; homogenised composite food preparations;
70) yeasts (active or inactive), prepared baking powders;
71) food preparations not elsewhere specified or included, except for any kind of syrup; hydrosaline-isotonix nutritional powder supplements;
72)wine vinegar; vinegar and substitutes for vinegar;
73) flowers and meals of meat and meat offal, of fish, crustaceans, molluscs not fit for human consumption and intended only for animal feeding; greaves for human or animal consumption;
74) beet pulp, bagasse and other waste of sugar manufacture; brewing or distilling dregs and waste; residues of starch manufacture and similar residues;
75) wine lees; argol;
76) products of plant origin and those used for animal feeding, not elsewhere included or specified;
77) molassed or sweetened forags; other similar preparations used for animal feeding, except for cat or dog food put up for retail sale;
78) raw or not-manufactured tobacco; tobacco refuse;
79) lecithins for human or animal consumption;
80) fuel wood, in logs, in billets, in twigs, in faggots; wood waste and scrap, sawdust included;
81) natural gas;
82) plant protection products;
83) semen for the artificial insemination of cattle;
84) active ingredients for the preparation and the nutritional supplements for animal feed;
85) products of mineral origin and industrial-chemical products and additives intended for animal feed;
86) any playing cards;
87) fresh fish (alive or dead), chilled, frozen or deep frozen, intended for consumption; simply prepared or preserved in salt or in bribe, dried or smoked, crustaceans and molluscs including shellfish (whether or not separated from their shell), fresh, chilled, frozen or deep frozen, dried, salted or in brine, except for crayfish, lobsters and oysters; crustaceans and molluscs in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, except for crayfish lobsters and oysters;
88) works of art, collectors’ items and antiques;
89) bulbs, tubers, tuberous roots, crowns and rhizomes, dormant, in growth or in flower; other live plants and roots including cuttings and slips
90) spices;
91) extracts and juices of meat and fish;
92) beet sugar and can sugar, in solid form; except for those containing added flavouring or colouring matter;
93) cereal products; obtained by the swelling or toasting of cereals: “puffed-rice”, “corn-flakes” and the like;
94) oilcake, olive pulp and other residues from the physical extraction of olives, except for the oil foots and dregs; oil cake and other residues from the oil extraction of oil seeds and oleaginous fruits;
95) medicinal products for human and veterinary use except for the homeopathic products; pharmaceutical substances and articles for medication as included in the national health service formulary;
96) cooked ham.