A preliminary analysis of the results of the Global VAT/GST Questionnaire, prepared by examining the answers provided by over 60 respondents, ranging from business to government and tax advisors, demonstrated that cross-border VAT/GST disputes are much more prevalent than it was previously thought. Unresolved cross-border VAT disputes distort trade flows within the EU and can influence the location decisions of companies.
The discussion with EU based business and with the European Commission suggested that, given the unique framework for VAT in the EU, a supplementary questionnaire should be designed in order to provide more detailed information on Intra EU VAT disputes, which may help the EC to develop new proposals in this area. The new EU focused questionnaire’s objective is to collect additional data from businesses, business federations, tax advisors, lawyers, academics and other experts to obtain better insight into cross-border VAT disputes in the EU. This would allow us to assess the scale of the problem, identify the root causes of cross-border VAT disputes with the goal of suggestion solutions to reduce the number of cross-border VAT disputes through prevention and resolution mechanisms.
The Supplementary EU Questionnaire has been launched in March 2022 and was sent out widely to ICC, Business Europe, distributed by the European Commission and through other channels. Please note that we have extended the deadline for responses to September 30, 2022.
Aource Vienna University
