Brussels, 29/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 29 September wishing to respond quickly and effectively to new, “worrying” fraud patterns reported by several member states, the European Commission put to the EU Council of Ministers a draft proposal for an optional and temporary application of the reverse charge mechanism to supplies of certain goods and services. The aim is to allow member states to fight carousel fraud in a consistent manner throughout the European Union. The proposal covers greenhouse gas emission allowances that were subject to VAT fraud during last summer. It also includes evaluation and reporting obligations for member states which will allow a precise assessment of the effectiveness of the measures.
VAT fraud is a major concern for member states' revenues and the proper functioning of the internal market. A common and particularly severe form of this fraud is VAT carousel fraud, which costs EU finances billions of euro every year. It is often organised on a large scale, sometimes by criminal organisations. Carousel fraud is traditionally organised with small goods of high value. Recently, several member states reported cases of carousel fraud on greenhouse gas emission allowances. To allow member states to take swift action against this kind of fraud, the Commission proposal would allow the application of a reverse charge mechanism on supply of five categories of particularly fraud sensitive goods and services: computer chips, mobile phones, precious metals, perfumes and greenhouse gas emission allowances. The opportunity for all member states to opt for the application of reverse charge under the same conditions to a limited list of goods and services provides them with the instrument needed to tackle worrying types of fraud in a flexible manner, the Commission says in a press release. The full text of the proposal is available at:
http: //ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/common/legislation/proposals/taxation/COM(2009)
511_en.pdf (O.L./transl.rt)