The European Commission has today launched plans for the biggest reform of EU VAT rules in a quarter of a century. The reboot would improve and modernise the system for governments and businesses alike. Overall, over €150 billion of VAT is lost every year, meaning that Member States miss out on revenue that could be used for schools, roads and healthcare. Of this, around €50 billion - or €100 per EU citizen each year - is estimated to be due to cross-border VAT fraud. This money can be used to finance criminal organisations, including terrorism. It is estimated that this sum would be reduced by 80% thanks to the proposed reform.
The proposed VAT reform would also make the system more robust and simpler to use for companies. The Commission wants a VAT system that helps European companies to reap all the benefits of the Single Market and to compete in global markets. Businesses trading cross-border currently suffer from 11% higher compliance costs compared to those trading only domestically. Simplifying and modernising VAT should reduce these costs by an estimated €1 billion.
A definitive VAT system that works for the Single Market has been a long-standing commitment of the European Commission. The 2016VAT Action Planexplained in detail the need to come to a single European VAT area that is simpler and fraud-proof.
With today's package, the Commission proposes to fundamentally change the current VAT system by taxing sales of goods from one EU country to another in the same way as goods are sold within individual Member States. This will create a new and definitive VAT system for the EU.
0