Tax

VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) approaches: Are you ready?

By:
Janette Maxwell,
Fadi BouKaram
07 Nov 20243 min read
insight featured image
On November 5, 2024, the EU Finance Ministers at ECOFIN reached a unanimous agreement on the VAT in the Digital Age (“ViDA”) proposal. Although there are some formal procedures remaining before the proposal is implemented in full, this agreement is expected to pave the way for significant changes to the VAT system across the EU.
Contents

We outline the main aspects of the proposal, the timeline for its implementation, and its potential impact on businesses. The ViDA initiative consists of a series of significant reforms to the common VAT rules in the EU.

Its goal is to enhance VAT compliance, combat tax fraud, and modernise VAT regulations to better align with the demands of the digital age. The latest ViDA package comprises of three pillars:

  1. E-invoicing and Digital Reporting
  2. Platform Economy
  3. Single VAT registration

Key Highlights

E-invoicing and Digital Reporting

  • Electronic invoicing will be established as the standard method for issuing invoices, and possessing a valid e-invoice will ultimately be a key requirement for VAT recovery.
  • Invoices should generally comply with the European Standard (EN16931) and its specified syntaxes, but Member States may allow other formats under certain conditions.
  • Electronic invoices for cross-border transactions must be issued no later than 10 days following the chargeable event.
  • The e-invoice must be digitally reported to the relevant tax authorities by the supplier directly after the e-invoice has been issued (or within five days if the customer issues the e-invoice under a “self-billing” arrangement).

The customer is required to digitally report information from the e-invoice within five days of receiving it from the supplier. Member States may waive this digital reporting requirement for customers.

The requirements above will apply from 1 July 2030.

Platform Economy

From 1 July 2028, a taxable person who uses an electronic platform to facilitate short-term accommodation rentals (max. 30 nights) and/or passenger transport by road will be regarded as the supplier of those services for VAT purposes and will therefore be liable to account for VAT, unless: 

  • The underlying supplier provides its VAT identification number to the platform operator.
  • The underlying supplier informs the operator that they will charge the VAT due on that supply.

Member States may decide not to designate the platform as a deemed supplier if the underlying supplier qualifies for and chooses the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) VAT regime.

Member States must implement the rules by 1 January 2030 at the latest.

Single VAT registration

The Single VAT Registration (SVR) pillar aims to minimise the requirement for non-established traders to register for VAT in an EU Member State where they are not established.

The One-Stop-Shop (“OSS”) has been expanded to include additional types of supplies, such as domestic business-to-consumer transactions including the supply of electricity and natural gas, supply and installation contracts, as well as domestic supplies of goods and services.

A new OSS module will allow businesses to report the movement of their own goods between EU Member States. Currently, moving goods usually requires VAT reporting and registration in both the country of dispatch and country of arrival, with some exceptions.

From July 1, 2028, businesses can choose to report these movements through the OSS, which means they will not be required to report acquisition VAT in the destination country.

What’s Next?

The time to prepare for these changes is now. Businesses need to review their IT systems and start thinking ahead as to how these changes will impact their day-to-day operations and related invoicing processes. At Grant Thornton we are on hand to support businesses on this journey and to navigate the potential complexities that ViDA will bring.

Contact us
Learn more about how our Indirect Tax Advisory & Compliance solutions can help you
Visit our Indirect Tax Advisory & Compliance page
Learn more about how our Indirect Tax Advisory & Compliance solutions can help you
TAGS  
Authors
  • Janette Maxwell
    Janette Maxwell Janette joined Grant Thornton in 2010 and is currently part of the Indirect Tax team. Her specialities include property transactions and cross border trade. She also has experience with transaction taxes. View Profile
  • Fadi BouKaram
    Fadi BouKaram Fadi joined Grant Thornton in 2023 and specialises in tax technology and transformation, with a focus on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEol) regimes View Profile