Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU Taxation Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has promised a number of MEPs that the European Commission will discuss how to make progress on the question of reducing value-added tax (VAT) on e-books.
In a letter to a number of liberal MEPs on 25 March (Sophie in 't Veld and Marietje Schaake of the Netherlands, Kaja Kallas of Estonia and Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium), Pierre Moscovici said that the matter could be dealt with “through extensive overhaul of the VAT system in 2016, or through the ongoing preparation of the digital single market strategy; it is too early to speculate on the different options.” He pointed out: “Electronic services, such as the supply of digitised content of books over the internet or an electronic network, are currently excluded from the scope of reduced rates. This exclusion was unanimously agreed by the member states in the Council.” The MEPs urged the Commissioner to unveil draft legislation as a matter of urgency to introduce the option of reduced-rate VAT for e-books following a ruling at the European Court of Justice on 5 March this year (see EUROPE 11268). (Elodie Lamer)