Tax & Legal

The Council of the EU reached agreement on the position of member states (the so-called ‘general approach’) on the directive on value added tax (VAT) rules for distance sales of imported goods and import VAT.

Most EU Member States made significant progress in Value-Added Tax (VAT) collection between 2018 and 2022, according to a new report released by the European Commission, but continued efforts are still needed.

In a recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that - in the case of bank transfers - the chargeable VAT for payments is incurred at the time the respective amount is credited to the payee's current account, even if the value date is at an earlier point in time.

According to a new report released by the European Commission on 24 October 2023 most EU Member States made progress in the enforcement of Value-Added Tax (VAT) compliance in 2021. The annual VAT Gap study, which measures the difference between theoretically expected VAT revenues and the amount actually collected, shows that Member States lost around €61 billion in VAT in 2021, compared to €99 billion in 2020.

The ECJ has held that a conflict of definition leading to cross-border car leasing being taxable in neither country does not preclude the right to deduct input tax.