Fiscora

The Monthly Statistical Survey on Intra-EU Trade in Goods (EMEBI) replaced the former Déclaration d’Échanges de Biens (DEB) in 2022, separating the tax component (now integrated into the VAT return via the EC sales list) from the statistical component (the EMEBI survey itself, run by French Customs). This separation, intended to simplify things, has paradoxically created new areas of confusion for businesses that have not updated their internal processes.

Two distinct obligations, two different logics

The tax component applies to any VAT-liable business making intra-EU supplies of goods: it takes the form of the EC sales list, with no threshold trigger. The EMEBI statistical component, on the other hand, only applies to businesses whose intra-EU trade (arrivals or dispatches) exceeds an annual threshold set by Customs, reassessed each year. A business can therefore be subject to one without being subject to the other — a distinction still poorly understood in many finance departments.

The most common mistakes we see

• Confusion between the arrivals threshold and the dispatches threshold, leading to missed filings
• Outdated or misapplied Combined Nomenclature (HS8) codes for the company’s products
• No reconciliation between amounts declared under EMEBI and those on the EC sales list, a classic trigger for Customs information requests
• Misclassification of statistical treatment for toll manufacturing flows, consignment stock or triangular operations
• Poorly anticipated filing deadlines (10th business day following the reference month)

Why data consistency matters so much

Customs and tax authorities routinely cross-check amounts declared under EMEBI against the EC sales list and against data from your European trading partners. A significant, recurring discrepancy almost automatically triggers a request for explanation, or an audit. Getting these declarations right upstream, based on reconciled logistics and accounting data, remains the best protection against that risk.

How Fiscora supports you

We audit your intra-EU goods flows, secure the customs nomenclature applicable to your products, set up EMEBI/VAT reconciliation procedures, and represent your business in the event of a Customs information request.