On December 10, 2024, the Council reached a political agreement on the European Commission’s proposal to introduce an electronic VAT exemption certificate.
The directive aims to replace the current paper-based VAT exemption certificate with a digital version. This electronic certificate will apply to goods exempted from VAT, such as those imported for embassies, international organisations, or armed forces. Read more
On November 29, 2024, the Trade Committee under the Trade Agreement between the EU and Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador approved updates to the working and processing operations required to grant originating status to products made with non-originating materials. These changes align with the 2022 version of the Harmonized System (HS). Essentially, this means that products manufactured in these countries using materials from outside must meet specific conditions to be considered as “made in” that country. Read more
EU Tax Administration Leaders Unite to Tackle Shared Challenges.
On December 12-13, 2024, the Tax Administration EU Summit (TADEUS) brought together Heads of tax administrations from across the European Union to address pressing and complex challenges. Hosted in Budapest, the summit demonstrated the strong commitment of EU tax authorities to collaborate and find collective solutions. Read more
A new report published by the European Commission today highlights substantial improvements in Value-Added Tax (VAT) collection across most EU Member States between 2018 and 2022.
The annual EU VAT Gap Report, which assesses the difference between expected VAT revenues and actual collections, shows that Member States lost approximately €89 billion in VAT in 2022, compared to €121 billion in 2018. These losses are primarily attributed to VAT fraud, evasion, avoidance, non-fraudulent bankruptcies, calculation errors, and other factors.
Reducing the VAT compliance gap is a positive development, as lost revenues undermine governments’ ability to fund essential services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Read more
From January 1, 2025, small enterprises will be able to take advantage of a special VAT regime (SME scheme) designed to:
However, businesses opting for VAT exemption will forfeit the right to deduct VAT on expenses related to their exempt sales. Read more
On October 2, the EU and Norway signed an agreement to update their existing framework for administrative cooperation in VAT matters, focusing on fraud prevention and claim recovery. This revised agreement introduces new tools to strengthen their collaboration.
The original EU-Norway agreement, which came into effect on September 1, 2018, was the first international treaty focused on VAT cooperation. After six years, the partners have amended it to align with Council Regulation 904/2010 on VAT fraud prevention and Council Directive 2010/24/EU on mutual assistance for the recovery of tax-related claims. Read more
On September 9, 2024, the European Commission adopted the Union Customs Code (UCC) Annual Progress Report 2023. This fifth edition details advancements in implementing the UCC and its 17 key digital projects, drawing on input from EU Member States throughout 2023. The report has been shared with the European Council and Parliament. Read more
The European Commission has introduced a proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation (Directive 2011/16/EU – DAC). Known as DAC9, this proposal aims to streamline the filing process for companies subject to the Pillar 2 Directive (Directive (EU) 2022/2523), which establishes a global minimum tax level for multinational enterprise groups (MNEs) and large-scale domestic groups (LSDGs) within the EU. Read more
Antigua and Barbuda has been taken off the EU’s Annex I (the list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes) following a supplementary review by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. Read more
Detentions of counterfeit in the EU have reached new heights, with law enforcement authorities detaining 152 million fake articles in 2023, a 77% increase from the previous year. The estimated value of these counterfeit goods, seized at both EU borders and within the internal market, raised to EUR 3.4 billion, a 68% increase on 2022. Read more
