{"id":797460,"date":"2026-03-01T19:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/797460\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T19:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:00:24","slug":"eus-vat-fraud-bill-raises-questions-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/797460\/","title":{"rendered":"EU\u2019s VAT Fraud Bill Raises Questions of Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Commission says European Union governments lose roughly 128 billion<\/a> euros ($151 billion) a year in uncollected value-added tax revenue.<\/p>\n

Despite these massive losses, EU governments are hesitating to give anti-fraud agencies access to the cross-border data required to close the gap. The latest delay<\/a> in a bill to expand VAT information-sharing suggests tension revolves around who within the community gets to police fraud\u2014and how much authority member nations would concede in the process.<\/p>\n

The proposal itself isn\u2019t radical. It would allow EU anti-fraud bodies to access VAT data held by national authorities, enabling them to investigate and intercept cross-border schemes.<\/p>\n

That matters because VAT fraud is cross-border by design. Carousel schemes exploit that goods move freely across the single market but enforcement authority and transaction details don\u2019t. It\u2019s essentially information-delay fraud. By the time an exploited revenue authority realizes something is amiss, the fraudsters and the proceeds are long gone.<\/p>\n

The problem is structural. Europe built a borderless marketplace, but individual member nations retained tax enforcement authority. Governments exchange tax information under existing directives, so sharing VAT data would hardly break new ground.<\/p>\n

The sticking point is jurisdiction\u2014how and when agencies such as the European Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office can access national databases. EU members insist that such access must be the exception rather than the rule, but one member\u2019s exception may be another\u2019s routine.<\/p>\n

This raises the ultimate question: Is this enforcement debate about privacy or institutional power? Expanding data access inevitably expands authority. For some capitals, empowering EU-level prosecutors may feel a bit too much like incremental federalization.<\/p>\n

The real discomfort may not be with the VAT gap, but who gets to close it.<\/p>\n

\u2014Andrew Leahey<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Europe <\/p>\n

Europe built a borderless marketplace, but individual member states retained tax enforcement authority.<\/p>\n

Photographer: Lars Baron\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Welcome to the Week in Insights<\/strong> for Bloomberg Tax\u2019s latest analysis and news commentary. This week, experts analyzed the OECD\u2019s and UN\u2019s international tax reform efforts, tax consequences of employee compensation clawbacks, and more.<\/p>\n

The Exchange<\/a>\u2014It\u2019s where great ideas on tax and accounting intersect.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Insights<\/p>\n

The pace of technological change impacting accounting and compliance over the very recent past is materially ahead of what many of the largest firms publicly acknowledge, and the shift has been visible in real time.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s new real estate ownership law reflects a deliberate policy choice to deepen foreign participation in one of the kingdom\u2019s most important economic sectors.<\/p>\n

Importers seeking tariff refunds after the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling may face additional obstacles as Trump and Bessent describe protracted disputes ahead. <\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence is starting to move from recommending products to buying them. For tax, the question is, when an AI agent completes a sale, who is required to collect tax?<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s landmark tariff ruling makes clear that the Supreme Court intends to rein in Democratic and Republican presidents alike, sending a message that both parties will need unusually clear authority to take unusually significant actions.<\/p>\n

The UN and OECD should collaborate in developing tax frameworks that encourage\u2014or at least don\u2019t discourage\u2014investment, employment, and growth.<\/p>\n

Taxpayers that believe they can get a jury trial under Jarkesy v. SEC to fight security fraud penalties may want to think twice before pursuing that option.<\/p>\n

Improving IRS administration can\u2019t happen without involvement from the practitioners who work with taxpayers every day.<\/p>\n

Navigating the tax consequences of employee compensation clawbacks is a challenge, particularly since it may require coordination with, and the cooperation of, the affected employee.<\/p>\n

As generative AI accelerates preparation and analysis work, the new challenge for tax professionals is how responsibility shifts when work moves faster, away from execution itself and toward judgment and accountability.<\/p>\n

The Italian Revenue Agency\u2019s change of stance on VAT deductibity provides robust legal certainty for taxpayers, and opens a window for market players to challenge restrictive administrative positions and to pursue VAT recovery with renewed confidence.<\/p>\n

The federal prosecution of Tom Goldstein on tax fraud charges was never going to be a routine case. But strip away the celebrity witnesses, the tens of millions in poker chips won and lost, and the movie studios circling the story, and the case turned on something far more prosaic: Intent.<\/p>\n

Technically Speaking <\/p>\n

Technically Speaking design by Jonathan Hurtarte\/Bloomberg Tax<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s \u201cland port maintenance tax\u201d<\/strong> idea looks like contingency planning following the US Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that the president can\u2019t impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Andrew Leahey<\/strong> argues in his latest Technically Speaking column.<\/p>\n

Creating a maritime security fund<\/strong> within the Department of Defense or reforming the Harbor Maintenance Fee would be better options than imposing a tax that functions as \u201ca tariff in substance, even if it\u2019s dressed up in infrastructure policy attire,\u201d Andrew writes. Read More<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

News Roundup<\/p>\n

The Treasury Department issued guidance for a key change in regulations on how companies\u2019 subsidiaries treat foreign-currency gains and losses.<\/p>\n

PepsiCo Inc. created a foreign affiliate as a shell company just to avoid state taxes, an Illinois appeals court ruled Wednesday, upholding a $10.9 million state income tax bill.<\/p>\n

Poker-playing former US Supreme Court litigator Tom Goldstein has been found guilty of 12 of 16 counts following a six week trial in Maryland.<\/p>\n

Virginia Democrats are heading into budget negotiations with a major unresolved issue: the massive data centers that have reaped $1.6 billion<\/a> in sales tax exemptions in the most recent fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Tax Management International Journal<\/p>\n

Side-by-side deal exempts US multinationals from key Pillar Two taxes in Canada.<\/p>\n

Global disruption, rising costs, and digital innovation are transforming procurement into a critical driver of enterprise value\u2014explore how a tax-informed operating model is reshaping the future of procurement.<\/p>\n

Tax Management Memorandum<\/p>\n

An examination of the updated OECD Manual on Effective Mutual Agreement Procedures that highlights seven practical insights tax departments should consider when developing cross-border dispute resolution strategy.<\/p>\n

Treasury issues new guidance addressing CAMT criticisms, offering relief on a number of issues plaguing CAMT taxpayers while final regulations are pending.<\/p>\n

Career Moves<\/p>\n

Christopher Brown joined Citrin Cooperman as an audit partner in its New York City office, the firm announced.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Gerlach joined Nixon Peabody as a partner in its tax team in San Francisco, the firm announced Monday.<\/p>\n

Robert Brown joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in its real estate practice in San Diego, the firm announced<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Joseph C. Mandarino joined Polsinelli as a shareholder in its tax practice in Atlanta, the firm announced<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Christopher Buch and Balazs Danko joined Sheppard as partners in its Chicago office, the firm announced<\/a> Wednesday. Buch joined the corporate practice group, while Danko joined the tax practice group.<\/p>\n

Robert Brown joined Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder in its California real estate team in San Diego, the firm announced<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Commission says European Union governments lose roughly 128 billion euros ($151 billion) a year in uncollected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[19128,2000,299,5187,1699,99701,121239,231480,231479],"class_list":["post-797460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-customs-duties","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-federal-tax","tag-non-u-s-tax","tag-prosecutor-duties","tag-vat-and-gst"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116155464703504862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}