(21 September 2018) – EU countries lost almost €150 billion in Value-Added Tax (VAT) revenues in 2016, according to a new study published today by the European Commission.
The so-called ‘VAT Gap’ shows the difference between the expected VAT revenue and the amount actually collected.
While Member States’ have carried out a lot of work to improve VAT collection, today’s figures show that reform of the current EU VAT system combined with better cooperation at EU level are needed so that Member States can make full use of VAT revenues in their budgets.
The VAT Gap decreased in 22 Member States with Bulgaria, Latvia, Cyprus, and the Netherlands displaying strong performances, with a decrease in each case of more than 5 percentage points in VAT losses. However, the VAT Gap did increase in six Member States: Romania, Finland, the UK, Ireland, Estonia, and France.