On Wednesday 15 January, MEPs approved by a large majority (592 votes in favour, 22 against and 51 abstentions) a second favourable opinion on the proposal for a directive to simplify the value added tax (VAT) for SMEs (see EUROPE 11942/2).
Parliament had already adopted a first opinion in September 2018 (see EUROPE 12093/4), but the EU Council decided to consult it again using an accelerated procedure, given the substantial changes it made to the European Commission’s initial proposal when it adopted its position in November 2019 (see EUROPE 12366/3).
Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) then decided not to comment on the general approach settled on by the EU Council. No amendments were therefore filed in committee or in plenary.
According to the EU Council text, delivery of goods and services by small enterprises with a national annual turnover not exceeding 85,000 euros may be exempted from VAT.
Under certain conditions, Member States that allow such an exemption for companies established in their territory will be required to apply the exemption to deliveries made in their territory by taxable persons established elsewhere in the EU whose annual turnover from activities in the Union does not exceed 100,000 euros.
While the Commission and Parliament wanted the new rules to enter into force on 1 January 2022, the EU Council postponed their implementation until 1 January 2025. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)