Following the recent European Court of Justice judgement on the legality of applying reduced VAT rates to e-books the Ministers of Culture of France, Germany, Poland and Italy have written to the European Commission …
Council of the EU
Joint Declaration on VAT on E-books, 19th March 2015
Following the recent European Court of Justice judgement on the legality of applying reduced VAT rates to e-books the Ministers of Culture of France, Germany, Poland and Italy have written to the European Commission demanding a review of the VAT Directive, in order to make it possible for Member States to align VAT rates for all books, regardless of how they are published (ie in digital or paper form).
European Commission
Official Announcement of the Extension of the VAT Cross Border Rulings Pilot Project, 27th March 2015
The European Commission has officially announced the extension of the VAT Cross Border Rulings Pilot Project. The scheme will now run until September 2018. Your Association has been as a member of the EU VAT Forum pushing very hard for this significant extension to take place, rather than the short extension proposed by the Commission (6 months). Your Association has also been actively pushing to get more Member states involved beyond the 16 currently takin part.
Digital Single Market Strategy: Simplifying VAT, 24th March 2015
The European Commission has agreed on the priority actions for creating a digital economy, including Simplifying VAT arrangements to boost the cross-border activities of businesses, especially SMEs. The Commission concluded that, the cost and complexity of having to deal with foreign tax rules are a major problem for SMEs. The VAT-related costs due to different requirements are estimated at EUR 80 billion.
These priority actions will be the framework for preparing the comprehensive Digital Single Market Strategy to be unveiled in May.
Studies on VAT Rates Structure and the economic effects of the current VAT rules for passenger transport, 20th March 2015
The European Commission has published two studies on VAT, the first study assesses the main economic effects of the current VAT rates structure and the economic effects that would follow from abolishing zero and reduced rates. The second contributes to the debate on possible options for reform of current VAT rules for passenger transport by assessing the economic effects of the current regime.
