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Représentation au Luxembourg
  • News article
  • 24 October 2023
  • Representation in Luxembourg
  • 3 min read

Member States made progress in VAT compliance in 2021, though losses remain considerable

Most EU Member States made progress in the enforcement of Value-Added Tax (VAT) compliance in 2021, according to a new report released by the European Commission today. The annual VAT Gap study, which measures the difference between theoretically expected VAT revenues and the amount actually collected, shows that Member States lost around €61 billion in VAT in 2021, compared to €99 billion in 2020.

This figure represents revenues lost mainly to VAT fraud, evasion and avoidance, non-fraudulent bankruptcies, miscalculations and financial insolvencies, among other drivers.

This progress in enforcing VAT compliance is welcome since lost VAT revenues can have an extremely negative impact on governments' capacity to fund the public goods and services upon which we all depend, such as schools, hospitals and transport.

The latest report shows that targeted policy responses made a difference, particularly those related to digitalisation of tax systems, real-time reporting of transactions and e-invoicing. At the same time, temporary factors such as government support measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were often contingent on paying taxes, may also have played a role in driving this positive change.

Main results in 2021

In nominal terms, the overall EU VAT Gap decreased by around €38 billion, from €99 billion in 2020 to €61 billion in 2021, an unprecedented improvement on previous years. A number of Member States such as Italy (-10.7 percentage points) and Poland (-7.8 percentage points) recorded particularly notable reductions in their national VAT Gap figures.

Member State

VAT Gap %

VAT Gap (in €mn)

Member State

VAT Gap
%

VAT Gap
(in €mn)

Belgium

6.9%

2 530

Lithuania

14.5%

795

Bulgaria

4.9%

347

Luxembourg

1.6%

70

Czechia

7%

1 362

Hungary

4.4%

709

Denmark

5%

1780

Malta

25.7%

345

Germany

2.8%

7 460

The Netherlands

-0.2%

-146

Estonia

1.4%

40

Austria

2.8%

883

Ireland

6.7%

1 116

Poland

3.3%

1 694

Greece

17.8%

3 231

Portugal

3.6%

713

Spain

0.8%

662

Romania

36.7%

8 996

France

4.9%

9 552

Slovenia

2%

87

Croatia

5.7%

461

Slovakia

10.6%

871

Italy

10.8%

14 600

Finland

0.4%

90

Cyprus

8.3%

197

Sweden

3.8%

1 935

Latvia

7.3%

225

EU

5.3%

60 603

Aside from some specific effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unprecedented uptick in VAT collection and decrease in the overall VAT Gap in most Member States could be explained by a variety of factors. First, electronic payments and online shopping, where the rate of VAT compliance is generally much higher, have grown in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, Member States are reaping the benefits of targeted measures put in place in their domestic tax systems such as new digital reporting tools, the real-time tracking of transactions, and e-invoicing regimes which are particularly effective against criminal VAT fraud.

As part of the 2022 VAT in the Digital Age proposals, currently under discussion between Member States in the Council, the Commission has notably put forward plans for a move to a cross-border digital reporting system based on e-invoicing for business-to-business transactions. The new system would make sure that Member States' authorities are fully informed of transactions in almost real time, allowing them to immediately address instances of VAT fraud, especially missing trader or carousel fraud.

Background

The VAT Gap is relevant for both the EU and Member States since VAT makes an important contribution to both the EU and national budgets. The study applies a “top-down consumption-side” methodology using national accounts data to produce estimations of the so-called VAT Total Tax Liability (VTTL), which captures the tax revenue that would have been collected if all taxpayers fully complied with their VAT obligations. The VAT Gap is calculated as the difference between the VTTL and actual VAT revenues and as such represents VAT revenues lost compared to the VTTL.

For more information

For more information, see our factsheet.

The full report with detailed information per Member State is available here.

Quote(s)

The marked improvements in the latest VAT Gap figures are good news for public finances in Europe. They can be attributed mostly to well-targeted national measures that have been consistently implemented. Now we need to deliver a strong push at EU level too, which means enacting our ‘VAT in the Digital Age’ proposals, which represent a real game-changer in terms of speeding up and facilitating tax authorities’ access to information on business-to-business transactions. I call on Member States to come to a swift agreement on the new measures so we can further reduce VAT losses – especially those caused by cross-border criminal fraud.

Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy - 24/10/2023

Details

Publication date
24 October 2023
Author
Representation in Luxembourg