EU Taxation News – Digital Single Market – Modernising VAT for cross border e-Commerce

On 6th May 2015, the European Commission announced its Strategy for the EU Digital Single Market.

In this context the Commission should make legislative proposals to modernise the VAT for cross-border e-commerce and reduce the administrative burden of businesses arising from different VAT regimes. This includes:

• extending the single electronic registration and payment mechanism to intra-EU and third country online sales of tangible goods to private consumers;
• introducing a common EU-wide simplification measure (VAT threshold) to help small start-up e-commerce businesses;
• allowing for home country controls including a single audit of cross border businesses for VAT purposes and;
• removing the VAT exemption for the importation of small consignments from suppliers in third countries.

See also the Questions & Answers (5th item), the Communication (2.5) and the working document (3.6).

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