Event | 04.02.2015

VAT fraud in the EU Member States

A study published by the Commission in October 2014 estimates the VAT gap in the EU at EUR 177 billion a year, 16% per cent of the VAT revenue expected by Member States. VAT is an exceptionally important source of the revenues of all Member States, on average, about 20% of state revenues come from VAT in the EU, and the if the latest estimate is right, 1 from every 6 VAT euros expected by EU Member States are lost, mostly to fraud. This is a serious situation which calls for an assessment of the achievements and failures of the VAT reform process and attempts at the improvement of enforcement that started with a Commission Communication on the need for a coordinated strategy against fiscal fraud in May 2006, the main developments of which are summarized here and here.

Agenda

12.30-13.00

Registration

13.00-13.10

Opening remarks by the co-hosts

13.10-13.25

(Fabiola Annacondia, International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), Manager of the VAT & Topicals Knowledge Group; Editor of IBFD’s International VAT Monitor and EU VAT Compass)

13.25-13.40

Europol’s perspective on intra-community VAT fraud (Carlo van Heuckelom, Head of Business Area, Economic Crime)

13.40-14.10

Perspectives on the Hungarian situation

Macro-economic implications and missing policy instruments (Balázs Romhányi, Economist, Hungarian National Bank)
Blowing the whistle on VAT fraud and its consequences, or the lack thereof (András Horváth, whistleblower, former official of the National Tax Authority)
State capture, corruption and EU funds (András Lukács, President of the Clean Air Action Group)

14.10-14.30

The Romanian case

The experience of the National Anti-corruption Directorate (Paul Dumitriu, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Section for Combating Offences Assimilated to those of Corruption within the DNA)

14.30-14.50

Reflections from the European Commission (Donato Raponi, Head of Unit, Value Added Tax, European Commission, DG Taxud)

14.50-15.20