Turlais welcomes modernization and simplification of VAT rules
The members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) broadly support the European Commission’s move to modernise VAT in the EU through an opinion prepared by Dainis Turlais (LV) and adopted during the October plenary.
The Action Plan on VAT by the European Commission is the first step towards a single EU value added tax (VAT) area in order to tackle fraud and simplify the administrative burden especially for e-commerce and SMEs. The huge level of existing VAT fraud reflects the shortcomings in the current system.
Rapporteur Dainis Turlais, member of the Riga City Council:
Bearing in mind that differences in VAT rules and rates between countries have a particular impact on border regions and SMEs the CoR voted in favour of extending and reviewing the list of goods and services eligible for reduced tax rates as opposed to the abolition of the restricted list.

.@DainisTurlais presents Action Plan on #VAT: Towards a single #EU VAT area @EU_CoR #CoRPlenary: https://t.co/oc3aTbMNnF pic.twitter.com/MkzDnPYEaZ
— ALDE-CoR (@ALDE_CoR) October 12, 2016