Direct access at EU level for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to relevant value added tax (VAT) data on cross-border transactions would simplify the gathering of evidence relating to VAT fraud, the European Commission concluded in its report published on Friday 14 November.
Such access would also provide a single point of entry for any additional VAT fraud data relevant to EPPO investigations and prosecutions. However, Member States have expressed reluctance to share VAT data through Eurofisc, the network of anti-fraud experts, without an explicit legal basis in Regulation (EU) 904/2010 on administrative cooperation.
The Commission has therefore identified the main areas of administrative cooperation where VAT fraud could be further reduced: - streamlining Eurofisc’s capacity to detect VAT fraud and act as an early warning mechanism to stop fraud through administrative measures; - intensifying cooperation between tax and customs authorities in the fight against VAT fraud at import; - enhancing multidisciplinary cooperation at EU level between various administrations, such as the Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Europol and the EPPO.
This is why the Commission has published a proposal for an EU Council regulation to strengthen cooperation between the EPPO, OLAF and the Member States (see EUROPE 13752/16). In October, the European Parliament adopted a recommendation along these lines (see EUROPE 13727/2).
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/ji1 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)