VAT - certain requirements for payment service providers

Key points:

The EESC

• supports the Commission's objective to introduce further rules ensuring proportionality and enhancing legal certainty for traders operating electronic interfaces, who facilitate the supply of goods to consumers in the EU, especially when they are treated as deemed suppliers;

• further supports the Commission's purpose of establishing regular cooperation with payment providers based on clear legislative provisions. The promising results expected after the implementation of the new measures will ensure more resources both for national and the EU budgets, as well as a simplified level playing field for tax-abiding businesses;

• notes that the regulatory approach embraced by the Commission is consistent with the principle of subsidiarity, given that e-commerce VAT fraud is common to all Member States and that European legislation is the most efficient tool to effectively support Member States in obtaining the information necessary to control VAT cross-border supplies;

• strongly underlines the importance of fully respecting the provisions of the GDPR and the need to limit the use of data to the sole – and strictly limited – objective of fighting VAT fraud in a manner that is cost-efficient and acceptable to the public at large;

• recommends that the Commission carry out adequate investments in physical assets and IT to ensure a functional central repository system, noting that the estimated costs of the project could be easily and swiftly covered by the expected results in terms of reducing VAT fraud and the VAT Gap.