For VAT purposes, the exchange relations between the Italian Republic and the Republic of San Marino are governed by the Ministerial Decree December 24, 1993, which entered into force on January 1, 1994 following the creation of the EU single market and the agreement on the customs union and cooperation between the European Community and the Republic of San Marino, signed in Brussels on December 16, 1991.

Treatment of operations with San Marino
For purchases from San Marino, the legislation envisaged for imports does not apply, even though it is a non-EU country. The purchase operations can take place in two alternative ways, namely purchase with a debit from the supplier of San Marino and purchase without charging a tax.
Following the import into Italy of goods from the Republic of San Marino, the national transferee, a VAT taxable person, could receive an invoice with the charge of the tax or without being charged:
1) in the first case, VAT is already paid by the San Marino operator
2) in the second case, the VAT must be paid by the Italian operator through the reverse charge mechanism, by integrating the invoice received.
The two operating modes can be chosen indifferently after agreement between the contractors. In both cases the INTRASTAT form must not be completed.

Purchase with tax charge
The transferor issues an invoice in four copies and submits the invoice to the Tax Office of the Republic of San Marino by paying the VAT; the Tax Office of the Republic of San Marino pays VAT to the Italian State, and returns the original invoice punched with a date (within the time required for the completion of the bureaucratic process (about 3 months from the invoice date)) to the operator of San Marino , who sends the invoice by ordinary mail to the Italian buyer who registers it in the VAT book of purchases by deducting the tax (the stamp of the Tax Office of the Republic of San Marino must be present on the invoice). The operation is not to be communicated with the INTRA model.

Purchase without charging the tax
The transferor issues three copies of the invoice, submits them to the Tax Office of the Republic of San Marino which stamps the documents with dry stamps and returns them to the transferor (within the time required for the completion of the bureaucratic process (approximately 3 months from the invoice date). )). The copy for the transferee will then be sent, by ordinary mail, to the Italian customer. The Italian buyer registers the invoice with the reverse charge self-invoicing mechanism art. 17 in both purchases and sales and communicates the transaction with the Multipurpose model to the Inland Revenue (previously this obligation was carried out with paper communication to be made within 5 days while now instead, the communication must be made electronically using the " multipurpose communication ", by filling in the SE panel, within the last day of the month following the month of annotation of the invoice). The operation is not to be communicated with the INTRA model.

 It should be remembered that with the Ministerial Decree of 12.2.2014, in force since 24.02.2014, the exclusion of the Republic of San Marino from the list of "black list" countries was ordered and therefore the transactions placed with subjects resident therein must no longer be included in the BL framework.