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New EU rules against VAT fraud

by AI | 12.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Anyone who sells goods or services across borders in the EU must report it immediately and digitally in the future.

Companies that sell taxable goods and services in other EU member states must digitally report every cross-border trade transaction in real-time from 2030. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

Brussels (dpa) – In the fight against VAT fraud, new regulations for electronic invoices and online transactions will apply in the European Union in the future. At a meeting in Brussels, the EU finance ministers gave final approval for a VAT legislative package, which is also intended to promote digitalization.

So companies that sell taxable goods and services in other EU member states will have to digitally report every cross-border trade transaction in real time from 2030. Until now, national tax authorities have had to be informed about such sales collectively every few months. This opened a loophole for fraudsters, it was previously said.

New regulations also for Airbnb and Co.

In addition, online platforms for renting apartments – such as Airbnb or Booking – or transportation services will in the future have to collect VAT directly from the customer and remit it to the tax authorities. The new regulations also stipulate that companies operating in different EU countries only need to register once for VAT purposes for the entire EU.

The new regulations must now be published in the Official Journal of the EU before they come into force and, if necessary, be incorporated into national law. Previously, the European Parliament had also approved the new rules. (March 11)