Brussels, 09/02/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Monday, 8 February, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the review of the value-added tax (VAT) rules concerning the treatment of financial and insurance services (see EUROPE 12588/16). According to the European Commission, the rules need to be revised because they date back to 1977 and have largely become obsolete. In addition, it believes that the current rules are considered to be complex and difficult to apply in practice—notably because they have not kept pace with the development of new services in the financial sector, such as financial technology services or cryptocurrency services. The European Commission had previously proposed to review these rules in 2007, but discussions in the EU Council led to a deadlock, and the proposals were withdrawn in 2016. Interested parties have until 3 May to submit their comments at http://bit.ly/3p7Ce4x (MF)