Quick Reaction Mechanism | Quick Reaction Mechanism against VAT fraud | QRM [Abbr.]

fraud [ elimination of fraud | fight against fraud | fraud prevention ]

contents dumping into vat | releasing contents into vat | contents releasing into vat | dump contents into vat

charging the vat with specific ingredients | filling the vat with specific ingredients | fill the vat with specific ingredients | vat charging with specific ingredients

vat tending following a nitration process | vat washing following a nitration process | tend vats following a nitration process | wash vats following a nitration process

direct-flow vat [ parallel-flow vat | uniflow vat ]

fraud against the EU [ fraud against the European Union ]

VAT [ turnover tax | value added tax | Sales tax(STW) ]

The European Commission has today unveiled new tools to make the EU's Value Added Tax (VAT) system more fraud-proof and close loopholes which can lead to large-scale VAT fraud.

The notion of serious offences against the common system of value added tax (‘VAT’) as established by Council Directive 2006/112/EC (the ‘common VAT system’) refers to the most serious forms of VAT fraud, in particular carrousel fraud, VAT fraud through missing traders, and VAT fraud committed within a criminal organisation, which create serious threats to the common VAT system and thus to the Union budget.

However, not all Member States are affected by VAT losses to the same extent (the VAT gap ranges between 4% and 41%. A recent study [see here] suggests that on average 36% of the VAT gap is due to VAT fraud.VAT fraud results from the weaknesses in the current VAT system and the way in which tax administrations manage the VAT system.

24. Takes note that, according to the new study on the VAT gap published in 2013 and financed by the Commission as part of its drive to reform the VAT system in the Union and put a stop to tax avoidance, EUR 193 000 000 000 in VAT revenue (1,5 % of GDP) was lost in 2011 through non-compliance or non-recovery; stresses, however, that the VAT gap is the product not only of fraud but also of other factors, including bankruptcy and insolvency, statistical errors, late payment and tax evasion; points out, in this connection, that effective action to close the VAT gap obviously requires a concerted, multidisciplinary approach; stresses the importance of implementing new strategies and making more efficient use of existing EU structures in order ...[+++]to combat VAT fraud more vigorously;