VAT on Spanish SIM cards

[NFH]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

the same happens here in Greece, islands have less vat than mainland.
but all large companies, including telecoms, are based in mainland Greece.

I understood that the VAT reduction on some Greek islands applies to goods, but not to services. Also the whole of Greece, except for Mount Athos, is within the EU VAT area.

The difference in Spain is that the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla are outside the EU VAT area. Normally if a customer based in the mainland EU roams outside the EU VAT area inside the EU (e.g. Gibraltar, French overseas territories, Åland etc), no VAT is charged by the home network as a consequence of a derogation from Article 9(1) of Council Directive 77/388 (OJ No. L145, 13.6.1997, p.1) ("the Sixth VAT Directive") made by Council Decision 6236/97 (OJ No. L86, 28.3.97, p. 33). However, this does not appear to be the case in practice when roaming in the Canaries, for example, because the same networks cover the whole of Spain, making it difficult for the home network to determine whether usage occurred inside or outside the EU VAT area.