Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-05-18-Speech-1-271-000"
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"en.20150518.19.1-271-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner Ansip acknowledges that by creating a connected digital single market, we can generate up to EUR 250 billion of additional growth in Europe, thereby creating hundreds and thousands of new jobs and a vibrant knowledge-based society. But Commissioner, to achieve this we do need several regulatory reforms and one of these is the tax treatment of digital products. I do support the need for alignment of VAT rates to ensure we have a level playing field and to eliminate distortion of competition, and tackling VAT fraud should remain a priority, but it is important not to forget the proportionality principle.
So when on 1 January 2015 the new VAT rules on digital products sold in the EU came into force, which means that they are chargeable in the place of purchase rather than the place of supply, this resulted in many EU businesses having to register an account for VAT in every single Member State. I have been contacted by many new—tech SMEs which have been adversely affected and are on the point of closing down. So we do need to address this issue.
For example, in the UK, there are about 240 000 designers of knitting and sewing patterns which are sold as PDF downloads. They are struggling in terms of the cost of compliance, especially if they trade across borders. They face something like EUR 5 000 annually for each Member State. So I am not sure how we are going to achieve the digital single market if we have regulations like this. European SMEs also face distortions from VAT-free goods supplied by non-EU businesses.
So I welcome what you have said in terms of introducing legislation and simplifying measures, but I do think it is important that we get the right level of threshold that enables a higher number of digital start-ups, and that means exemptions for them.
There are some important issues, Commissioner, that you do have to address. How are you going to achieve a threshold given that you need the agreement of 28 Member States? Secondly, what will the level of the threshold be? In the UK, it is GBP 81 000, but I think we may need to go lower if we are to achieve our ambitions."@en1
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