Brussels, 30/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European finance ministers meeting on Tuesday 4 December will look at the ongoing work at Community level on combating value added tax (VAT) fraud (see EUROPE 9550). In the conclusions to be adopted, they will support the work at European level designed to improve the information system on intra-Community supplies. Legislative initiatives are expected in 2008 containing measures which are said to be “conventional”, in as far as they do not involve any radical changes to the current system.
The Ecofin Council will ask the Commission to carry out a detailed study to “identify the information needs” felt by the national tax administrations, keeping in mind also the Community objective of reducing administrative burdens on European enterprises by a quarter by 2012. It will also invite it to plan the launch of “legislative proposals” with a view to: - strengthening the management of the joint VAT system, possibly through an increase in the frequency of reporting on intra-Community supplies and a reduction of maximum periods in which a tax authority must respond to a request for information from a tax authority in another member state; - acquiring precise and up-to-date information on “the registration and removal of enterprises” in national VAT registers. The Council also thinks that the option of introducing criminal measures at national level to punish fraudsters should be envisaged in the member states where legislation does not already contain such measures.
The draft conclusions only mentions the more ambitious measures envisaged to combat tax fraud, such as the implementation of a reverse charge mechanism or the taxation of intra-Community supplies in the member state of origin. The ministers will simply take note of the ongoing work on these two elements with a view to resuming discussions “in the first quarter of 2008”. (M.B.)