The EU's attempt to introduce a uniform sales tax form for businesses has come unstuck.
The use of a standardised new report form was intended to help businesses by eliminating the different ways they accounted for VAT/IVA returns and to make taxation easier for companies trading outside their own country.
But nations could not agree on what should be on the standardised form. The initial suggested form contained 28 boxes, but this soon rose to 60 after member states failed to agree on the scope of information.
Currently, wide variations exist in what each country requires. VAT returns in Ireland have but six information boxes and the UK has nine. The Italians, on the other hand, require more than 500.
Some southern European states use the return as a detailed auditing tool, while others require just a simple tax record. The new form would be of benefit to businesses in some countries, but a lot of new red tape for countries such as the UK, Ireland and Germany.
The UK, along with others, has refused to introduce the form and the EU will have to return the plan to the drawing board.
Comments
If the Portuguese and Italians found that the supply of money would be cut off if they did not conform, perhaps the outcome would be different, and a new type of form could rapidly be agreed.
Even basic trading standards fall flat on their face at the hands of these halfwits. And they want to rule Europe?
This emphasises the continuing 'slow pace of development' in the southern ex-fascist states.
How there still is large sections of their economies with little or no connection to taxation and regulation. So this form, which should be so simple - is used as a Trojan Horse to find out so much more than what the business spent and sold that is VATable.
But then a cynic would suggest that the intent all along was to crash the idea - to stop harmonisation!
Bearing in mind that in, for example, Italy around the total Portuguese GDP is 'lost' to the Mafia !!!
And we ask - how much of Portugal's total economic output is still in the ' black and / or grey' economy.
Interesting to note that estimates of a countries total value of prostitution and drug dealing are now included in an EU countries total activity.
But presumably no plans yet to VAT the punters and users !!