Tax ruling 196/2026: biomethane, reseller and reverse charge

In short: with ruling no. 196, published on 30 October 2026, the Agenzia delle Entrate clarifies that an industrial company buying biomethane from a producer solely to resell it to its gas supplier is, for that purchase, a reseller taxable person (art. 7-bis, paragraph 3, letter a, of d.P.R. 633/1972). The producer's invoices must therefore be issued without VAT, and the tax is accounted for through reverse charge under Article 17, paragraph 6, letter d-quater). What matters is each individual purchase, not the company's overall activity.

What does ruling 196/2026 say?

The applicant is a company in the iron and steel and metallurgy sector that has set up three contracts:

• a continuous supply of gas and biomethane by a supplier (BETA);
• an agreement under which, from April 2026, it resells to BETA the biomethane purchased from third-party producers, so that BETA returns it to the company together with the supply;
• an agreement to purchase biomethane from an agricultural company producer, signed in February 2026.

The arrangement is meant to "decouple" the bio component of the gas consumed in order to access the incentives provided for final customers in hard-to-abate uses (art. 5-bis, paragraph 2, of Decree-Law 63/2024). The company argued that it was a mere consumer and that it should receive an invoice with VAT charged to it.

The Agenzia disagrees: the contracts show two distinct supplies (producer to company, and company to BETA, with transfer of ownership and risks and a price indexed to the gas market), followed by the supply from BETA. With respect to the biomethane bought from the producer, the company resells all of it and its personal consumption "turns out to be entirely non-existent": it is therefore a reseller taxable person, and the producer's invoices must be subject to reverse charge.

What principle applies beyond this case?

That the status of reseller taxable person is assessed purchase by purchase. The definition in art. 7-bis, paragraph 3, letter a), reproduces art. 38, paragraph 2, of Directive 2006/112/EC: a reseller is a taxable person whose main activity "in relation to the purchase" of gas, electricity, heat or cooling is resale, with negligible personal consumption. The ruling refers to circular letter no. 54/E of 23 December 2004:

• one does not need to look at the person's overall activities, but at its conduct in the individual purchases of gas and electricity;
• use for its own needs remains compatible with the status if it is of negligible extent.

That is why it does not matter that the company operates in steelmaking and does not trade gas professionally. Nor do the 'hard to abate' final customer status and the self-consumed biomethane regime matter for VAT purposes: according to the Agenzia, they remain confined to energy and incentive legislation.

Purchase of gas or biomethane: how it is invoiced (ruling 196/2026 and circular 54/E/2004 as cited)

Destination of the gas purchased	Status of the buyer	Seller's invoice
Consumed in its own production activity	Not a reseller	With VAT charged (art. 18)
Resold, with negligible or nil personal consumption	Reseller taxable person (art. 7-bis, para. 3, letter a)	Without VAT, reverse charge (art. 17, para. 6, letter d-quater)

Until when does reverse charge apply to gas and electricity?

The ruling recalls this at the end: under art. 17, paragraph 8, of the VAT decree, unless a further extension is granted, reverse charge for these supplies is mandatory for transactions carried out up to 31 December 2026. The ruling cites Directive (EU) 2022/890 of 3 June 2022, transposed by art. 22 of Decree-Law 73/2022 (converted into Law 122/2022), and principle of law no. 2 of 12 August 2024.

What are the limits of the opinion?

The opinion is based on the information and contracts provided by the applicant, taken as true and complete; any power of control over the actual performance of the relationships remains unaffected. The Agenzia does not rule on the applicant's argument concerning the purchase without VAT as a regular exporter (esportatore abituale).

What to do in the practice, client by client

• Identify clients, including those outside the energy sector, who buy gas, biomethane or electricity and supply them to others, for example through purchase, sale-to-supplier and buy-back arrangements linked to biomethane incentives.
• Read the contracts purchase by purchase: transfer of ownership, a separate price, invoicing of the volumes supplied and the share consumed in-house are the elements on which the Agenzia decided.
• Check the invoices: for clients that produce biomethane (including agricultural companies), supplies to a reseller go without VAT; for clients that are reseller buyers, the tax must be accounted for through reverse charge.
• Mark 31 December 2026: after that date the obligation depends on any extension of art. 17, paragraph 8.

An opinion on a VAT question like this one, or the preparation of a ruling request, is a service that must go through the client's anti-money laundering customer due diligence, and tax advisory carries its own risk level under the CNDCEC Technical Rules (Regole tecniche CNDCEC). With the free customer due diligence checklist using the CNDCEC Technical Rules method you can see the rule of conduct or the measure required for the service and print the record to keep.

Sources

• Agenzia delle Entrate, ruling no. 196/2026 (VAT, reseller taxable person for biomethane and reverse charge), published 30/10/2026, accessed 2/11/2026
• D.P.R. of 26 October 1972, no. 633, arts. 7-bis and 17, on Normattiva
• Directive 2006/112/EC, art. 38; circular letter no. 54/E of 23 December 2004; principle of law no. 2 of 12 August 2024; ruling no. 59 of 31 October 2018; Directive (EU) 2022/890 and art. 22 of Decree-Law 73/2022, as cited in ruling 196/2026