Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-13-Speech-4-008-000"
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"en.20111013.3.4-008-000"2
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"Madam President, this report makes an important contribution to the consultation process that began in December 2010 when the Commission launched a Green Paper on the future of VAT. The current VAT system is not suitable for the internal market and has various high administrative and compliance costs and is a big burden on businesses. Besides, it is open and very vulnerable to fraud. This applies, in particular, to transactions carried out between one country and another, where the most common type of fraud, carousel fraud, is a serious issue, being the most active and costing Member States billions of euro every year. Choosing the best way forward is a big challenge and this choice should be made after thorough consultations with all those involved in some way or another. I have met many organisations, including representatives of large companies and small businesses, and now I will explain the conclusions that were agreed upon.
One of the most important points I want to mention in this report is the fact that we have to accept this status quo and move on to the principle of destination when we impose taxes on internal and cross-border transactions. Those involved readily agree on such a position, as do the assertions made in the Commission’s Green Paper, that while a system based on the principle of origin is most appropriate for the internal market, every effort to move forward in this direction has failed. There is no political will and so I think it is time we found a credible alternative. A system based on the principle of destination can only be effective if we set up one-stop shops for VAT.
The report supports the existing plan to set up these one-stop shops by 1 January 2015. This should lead to a drastic decrease in administrative costs experienced by businesses and should increase the efficiency of cross-border operations. It is worrying that many of those I have spoken to have said that, in certain cases, they prefer to do business with countries outside the European Union when we are supposed to have an internal market. This is an unacceptable situation which needs to be addressed as soon as possible. When it comes to deciding how to go about collecting VAT, it clearly emerges that more studies are required and other studies need to be revised, because I have concluded that the best system is the Data Warehouse Model. There has to be substantial infrastructural investment to switch over to this system and so we have to be cautious. Therefore, as I have already mentioned, I recommend there should be further studies in this regard to see if this system is feasible. We also have to work towards a general reduction in administrative costs. This would greatly help the small businesses sector. Other recommendations I am putting forward are a reduction in the frequency of returns, simplification of the system where one has to prove exemptions, and an increase in the use of e-government solutions, particularly when submitting VAT returns.
I think I will stop here for now and continue after listening to my colleagues."@en1
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