EU Needs VAT Revamp to Combat Fraud, Cut Complexity: Lawmakers

The European Union should renew efforts to reform its fragmented and complicated value-added tax system, European Parliament lawmakers said.

The bloc should aim to update the way countries charge VAT on cross-border business transactions, ensure reduced rates and exemptions are minimal, and harmonize the introduction of e-invoicing, lawmakers said in an opinion adopted Wednesday, with 510 votes for, 74 against, and 108 abstentions.

A new reform push is needed to “put an end to the provisional VAT regime that has created loopholes and expanded the VAT gap"—the difference between expected and actual VAT revenues—said Olivier Chastel, a ...