Activites

• 2008/02/20 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Regulation 2008/143
  • OJ L 044 20.02.2008, p. 0001
• #2847
• 2008/02/12 Council Meeting
• 2008/02/12 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2008/02/12 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• #2836
• 2007/12/04 Council Meeting
• #2828
• 2007/11/13 Council Meeting
  • 2828
• #2804
• 2007/06/05 Council Meeting
  • 2804 summary

    The Council examined a package of measures aimed at simplifying value-added tax (VAT) arrangements for businesses. It adopted the following conclusions:As a result of the substantial progress, the Council reached political agreement on the VAT package elements related to:the place of supply of services (one exception) (CNS/2003/0329);the mini one-stop shop (CNS/2004/0261);the draft directive on refund (CNS/2005/0807);the administrative cooperation elements.The Council recognises that, before the formal adoption of the full package, further discussion will be necessary on the change of the place of supply of services for B2C supplies for telecom, broadcasting, electronic and maritime services (Articles 56, 58 and 59a of the draft Directive on the place of supply of services), and invites the Portuguese Presidency to prepare final agreement on this issue.The Council also invites the Portuguese Presidency, before the formal adoption of the full package, to find solutions that would improve control and cooperation measures engaging both the Member State of the supplier and the Member State of consumption (including, if appropriate, reporting obligation in the Member State of establishment as regards the amount of supplies of services to other Member States, electronic matching of these amounts with those declared in all relevant Member States of consumption), without undue increases in the compliance burden for economic operator or the administrative burden for the tax authorities.The Council confirms its intention to formally adopt the VAT package before 31 December 2007 with the intention that the package would enter into force at the latest on 1 January 2010.

• #2766
• 2006/11/28 Council Meeting
  • 2766
• #2734
• 2006/06/07 Council Meeting
  • 2734
• #2726
• 2006/05/05 Council Meeting
  • 2726 summary

    The Council held an exchange of views, on the basis of a package of measures proposed by the presidency, on three dossiers dealing with value-added tax arrangements for businesses:§         a proposal for a directive on the place of supply of services as concerns VAT payments;§         proposals for two directives and a regulation on simplification of cross-border VAT obligations and refund procedures for businesses;§         prolongation of a directive on VAT arrangements for e-commerce.It requested the permanent representatives committee to continue work on the package, taking account of the views expressed by delegations, so as to enable the Council to reach political agreement at its meeting on 7 June 2006.The proposal on the place of supply is aimed at changing the place of taxation for VAT for services from the place where the supplier is located to the place where the customer is located. The proposals on simplification are aimed at providing for a "one-stop" scheme to simplify registration and declaration of VAT by businesses in member states where they have no base, as well as rules for refunds of VAT to such businesses and improved administrative cooperation as regards to VAT to prevent fraud.As regards e-commerce, the Commission confirmed its intention to make a proposal to enable the renewal, by 1 July, of provisions of directive 2002/38/EC regarding the provision of broadcasting services and certain electronically supplied services from third countries.

• #2688
• 2005/11/08 Council Meeting
  • 2688 summary

    The Council took note of a progress report on proposals aimed at simplifying cross-border business obligations relating to value-added tax and of the intention of the United Kingdom and future Austrian presidencies to continue work on the dossier as a priority.The proposals are intended to ease VAT compliance for businesses, particularly those that have no base in member states where they carry out their activities.They consist of:– a draft directive aimed at amending directive 77/388/EEC with a view to simplifying VAT obligations;– a draft directive laying down detailed rules for the refund of VAT to businesses in member states where it has no base, as provided for in directive 77/388/EEC;– a draft regulation aimed at amending regulation 1798/2003 as regards administrative co-operation under the “one-stop” scheme and the refund procedure for VAT.The Council also held an exchange of views, on the basis of a compromise proposed by the presidency, on modifications to EU rules on reduced rates of value-added tax applied by the member states.It requested the permanent representatives committee to continue work on this basis with a view to allowing the Council to reach an agreement at its meeting on 6 December.

• 2005/09/07 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0333/2005 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the report tabled by BECSEY (EPP/ED, HU) which supports two Commission proposals aimed at reviewing strategy regarding VAT.  The first proposal concerns a proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 77/388/EEC with view to simplifying value added tax obligations and confirms the vital principle of destination that neutralises differences concerning domestic VAT rates in cross-border business transactions. It contains five measures for a less burdensome common VAT system, aiming for a better VAT compliance within the EU.The second relates to a Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 as regards the introduction of the administrative cooperation arrangements in the context of the one-stop shop scheme and refund procedure for value added tax.  It makes it possible for taxable persons to have a single point of contact for VAT compliance in their Member State of identification, by building a system of exchange of information between tax administrations.The Parliament suggests several improvements, in particular, in terms of the simplification of administrative tax rules: - improvement of cooperation between the Member States’ tax authorities;- setting of a meaningful deadline for registration for VAT so as to facilitate transparency and reduce the administrative burden on the businesses concerned;- obligation to keep VAT documents and reports in the country in which the trader is established;- possibility to submit the declaration by electronic means within the 40 days (instead of 20) that follow the expiry of the period that it covers;- clarification of the VAT reimbursement system;- clarification of the location of the bank account in the event of excessive payment of VAT (the tax payer is not obliged to have an account in the Member State of destination); - the introduction of a minimum threshold of EUR 50,000 for VAT exemption, but only for the first three years of the operations of an SME.

• 2005/09/06 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2005/07/06 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0228/2005
• 2005/06/21 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2005/04/27 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #2617
• 2004/11/16 Council Meeting
  • 2617
• 2004/10/29 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2004)0728 summary

    PURPOSE : to introduce administrative cooperation arrangements in the context of the one-stop scheme and the refund procedure for value added tax.PROPOSED ACT : Council Regulation.CONTENT : under the current rules, a taxable person having taxable transactions for which he is liable to pay the tax in more than one Member State, will have to fulfil VAT obligations (identification, returns, payment) in each of these Member States. Since Member States have considerable discretion in defining VAT obligations (the content of the return and its frequency), a taxable person may be faced with a raft of different obligations to be discharged in several Member States.In order to make it possible for taxable persons to have a single point of contact for VAT compliance in their Member State of identification (both for the VAT one-stop scheme and for the procedure which will replace the Eighth Directive refund procedure), it is necessary to build a system of exchange of information between tax administrations.In the same way as for the special scheme which has been set up for electronic commerce supplies, such an exchange of information should be built within the legal framework on VAT administrative cooperation (Council Regulation 1798/2003/EC) and should be based exclusively on electronic communications.This electronic system to support the exchanges of information required under the one-stop scheme and the procedure replacing the Eighth Directive is to be integrated within a modernised VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) in order to make it possible to ease the burden on tax administrations. The Commission has, at the beginning of 2004, launched a feasibility study for a new improved VIES (VIES II), which includes the necessary requirements for the one-stop scheme. In particular, it will be necessary to ensure that information supplied electronically by taxable persons to their own Member State can be captured and processed. The information thus captured would have to be passed automatically to the relevant Member State where supplies take place or refunds are requested without any intervention by the Member State of identification. It is necessary to clarify the respective obligations of the Member States of identification and consumption, particularly as regards the deadlines for the transmission of information and the control of taxable persons.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/index_en.htm', 'title': 'Taxation and Customs Union'}, KOVÁCS László

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2004)0728
• Debate in Council: 2617
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0228/2005
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0333/2005
• Debate in Council: 2688
• Debate in Council: 2726
• Debate in Council: 2734
• Debate in Council: 2766
• Debate in Council: 2804
• Debate in Council: 2828
• : Regulation 2008/143
• : OJ L 044 20.02.2008, p. 0001

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)