On 7 April 2016 the Commission adopted an Action Plan on VAT – Towards a single EU VAT area.

Following the adoption of this Action Plan, the European Commission has made a series of proposals to work towards its completion.

18 February 2020 - VAT scheme for SMEs

The Council has agreed to new simplification rules to help reduce VAT compliance cost for small businesses.

18 February 2020 - New measures to fight VAT fraud using payment data

The Council has approved new measures to transmit and exchange payment data in order to fight e-commerce VAT fraud.

2 October 2018 - Council adoption of number of VAT proposals

On 2 October 2018, the Council adopted the following Commission proposals in the field of VAT.

- VAT on e-publications
- Cross-border administrative cooperation in the field of VAT
- Quick fixes to improve the day-to-day functioning of the current VAT system

25 May 2018 - Technical amendments for a definitive VAT system

Proposal on the detailed technical measures for the operation of the definitive VAT system for the taxation of trade between Member States 

A Commission services Working Document in which the proposal with the technical amendments for a definitive VAT system is incorporated in the VAT Directive is hereby provided. This document is made available for information purposes only and, in case of discrepancies, it is the text of the Commission proposal COM(2018)329 that prevails.

25 May 2018 - Reverse charge mechanism 

Proposal on the period of application of the optional reverse charge mechanism and the Quick Reaction Mechanism against VAT fraud 

18 January 2018 – VAT Rates

Proposal to introduce more flexibility for Member States to change the VAT rates they apply to different products.

18 January 2018 - Simplified VAT rules for SMEs

Proposal for new simplification rules to help reduce VAT compliance cost for small businesses.

30 November 2017 – Administrative Cooperation between Member States
Proposal for new rules on administrative cooperation between Member States' administrations in order to fight VAT fraud more efficiently.

4 October 2017 - Definitive VAT system
Proposal of a series of fundamental principles and key reforms for the EU's VAT area.

21 December 2016 - Generalised reverse charge mechanism
Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE as regards the temporary application of a generalised reverse charge mechanism in relation to supplies of goods and services above a certain threshold.

1 December 2016  - VAT on cross-border e-commerce
As part of the Digital Single Market strategy a legislative proposal was made to modernise and simplify VAT for cross-border e-commerce.

※ Please download the file here → EU-Action Plan on VAT 2016.4.7.pdf