VAT Newsflash

Council agrees on the VAT in the Digital Age package

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By:
Frank Heykes
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On November 5, 2024 The Council of the European Union, after long negotiations, announced that the EU’s Taxation Council has reached an agreement on the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package.
Contents

This legislative package aims to modernise the EU’s Vat system to better align with the realities of a digital economy and to improve the tax compliance.

As a reminder, the main purpose of ViDA is resolve the challenges posed by digitalisation, as loopholes in the VAT collection. It aims to make VAT reporting more transparent and reduce fraud, while at the same time simplifies compliance for businesses, especially those operating cross-border in digital markets.

The agreement operates around 3 main Pillars:

 

Pillar 1 : Digital Reporting and E-invoicing

The main focus is to modernise the VAT reporting system by introducing a real-time digital reporting through e-invoicing. The aim is to enhance tax compliance and reduce VAT fraud across the EU by reducing the gap for fraudsters to make fraudulent transactions based on non-harmonised data.

The businesses will have to issue e-invoices for cross-border business-to-business transactions and automatically report the data to their tax administration. The new and modern IT system will be able to provide analysis of suspicious activities.

The EU agreed that the new EU system could be put in place for national transactions as from the date of entry into force of the newly amended VAT Directive and that Member States shall adopt rules for international transactions gradually from 2027 to 2035.

 

Pillar 2 : VAT Treatment of the Platform Economy

The existing platform providers of online accommodation rental and passenger transport services are partially not required to register for VAT and therefore are not collecting VAT. Going forward (at the latest on 1st January 2030), the new platform economy operators will be responsible for collecting and then remitting VAT directly to the tax authorities as deemed suppliers.

Nevertheless, the Member States will still have the possibility to exempt small and medium-sized enterprises.

 

Pillar 3 : Single VAT Registration in the EU (One Stop Shop)

For the simplification of VAT compliance for businesses, the new system will allow to use a single VAT registration to fulfill certain x-border VAT obligations throughout the EU.

As from 1st July 2028, this will reduce administrative burdens, especially for small and medium entities, engaged in cross-border activities.

The ViDA package will definitely change the landscape for VAT compliance and we recommend to start preparing. We will keep you posted on any development in Luxembourg in this respect.

The VAT team of Grant Thornton Luxembourg remains at your disposal for any help or further clarification.

 

How we can help

The VAT team of Grant Thornton Luxembourg remains at your disposal for any help or further clarification. Do not hesitate to contact Frank Heykes.