Periodic listings of VAT sales and purchases to support VAT returns in fight against fraud
Whilst the EU VAT Gap has started to reduce, tax authorities are anxious to speed-up the collections of missing VAT – both via errors and fraud. For over a decade, they have been imposing the requirement to supplement summary VAT returns with invoice transaction control statements. This are listings of sales (sometimes purchases) in electronic format which the tax authorities are able to analyse and compare to VAT returns and reporting by counter parties. VAT Calc’s tax engine, VAT Calculator, is built on all the local laws, so can provide real-time VAT calculations for VAT Transaction Control Statements.
In the mid-term, they are being replaced by live or e-invoice VAT reporting which provides real-time transaction data to enable authorities to immediately sport errors or crime. SAF-T is a harmonised schema also increasingly popular covering a wider range of VAT transactions.
VAT transaction control statements
| Country | Details |
| Czech | Domestic monthly transactions listing |
| Estonia | Monthly sale and purchase listing |
| Greece | e-books instead |
| Hungary | Monthly sales and purchase listing |
| Italy | Esterometro Cross-border (being replaced by SdI |
| Latvia | Monthly sales and purchase listing |
| Lithuania | I-SAF |
| Norway | Proposed sales and purchase statements |
| Romania | Form 394 monthly sale and purchase listing |
| Poland | SAF-T |
| Portugal | SAF-T |
| Romania | Form 394 monthly statements |
| Turkey | Monthly sales and purchase listing |
| Slovakia | Sales and purchase invoice listings |
EU proposals to harmonise digital reporting requirements – VAT in the Digital Age
EU VAT in the Digital Age reforms include a channel for harmonised Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) and Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) by EU states. This grew from the 2020 EU Tax Action Plan proposals for a fairer and more efficient EU tax regime.
EU VAT in the Digital Age reforms
| EU VAT in the Digital Age | |
| 3 reforms to improve efficiency of VAT for all and reduce fraud | |
| 1. Single VAT registration in the EU; extension of OSS to B2C own stock movements | 2025 (?): Following the 1 July 2021 introduction of the One Stop-Shop (OSS), extended to cover movement of own stocks prior to cross-border B2C to reduce the foreign, non-resident VAT registrations & returns. Plus to movements of own stock with ending of 'call-off' stock burden |
| More details on Single VAT Registration in the EU | |
| Marketplaces deemed supplier for EU sellers | |
| EU IOSS mandated for marketplaces | |
| EU tackles misuse of IOSS numbers | |
| Quick fixes to existing e-commerce VAT rules | |
| Call-off stock VAT simplification ends | |
| Harmonisation of B2B Reverse Charge rules | |
| 2. Digital Reporting Requirements; e-invoicing | 2030 (?): Mandatory digital reporting of intra-community transactions; obligation to be able to issue and receive intra-community e-invoices; member states free to impose own e-invoicing or real-time reporting but most conform to EU e-invoice standard EN 16931 |
| Read more about EU Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) | |
| E-invoices mandated intra-community supplies 2028 | |
| EC Sales lists replaced by Digital Reporting Requirements | |
| 2014 EU legal permissions for e-invoicing lifted | |
| 3. VAT treatment of the platform economy | 2026 (?): Travel & accommodation sharing platforms to become deemed supplier / liable to users' VAT. New definitions of the roles of providers, users and platforms to avoid double and no-taxation |
| Read more - Travel & accommodation platforms deemed suppliers for EU VAT | |
