On Tuesday 5 December, the finance ministers of the EU adopted without debate the new rules on VAT in the field of e-commerce. In order to satisfy Germany, a statement has been appended to the minutes of the meeting.
The statement calls upon the Commission to prepare implementing measures, in particular on the provisions related to extending the VAT one-stop shop to supplies of goods online and to all cross-border services to end consumers. It states that although it seems unlikely that the adoption of detailed implementing measures will be possible in time to set the necessary technological systems in place, the Commission should, by the end of 2019 at the latest, assess whether article 2 (concerning the one-stop shop) can still be implemented in 2021. If not, it should propose fully or partially postponing articles 2 and 3 (removing the VAT exemption for small dispatches under €22) of the directive.
Malta and Cyprus asked to attach a unilateral statement. In it, they stress that they support the reinforcement of administrative cooperation, but call upon the Commission to consider, in any proposal on this dossier in the future, catering for “adequate compensation in cases of a disproportionate burden on a member state”. This statement is connected to the deletion of a provision allowing member states to take 5% of the VAT they collect and pay to other states. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)