EU €5bn e-commerce VAT fraud spreads to Greece
- Apr 23, 2018 | Richard Asquith
The EU is investigating the growth of Chinese e-commerce VAT fraud in Greece. The fraud is being perpetrated via Greece’s key Piraeus port, which is a hub for imports of consumer goods into south east Europe. It is estimated by the European Commission that online VAT fraud on sales of goods to individuals is costing member states over €5billion in lost revenues per annum.
The investigation is being led by the EU EuropeanAnti-Fraud Office (‘OLAF’) and the Italian Central Anti-Fraud Office, which believes many goods being sold online to its consumers have no or under declared import VAT liabilities at the time of their entry to the EU via Greece. The goods originally travel from China via the new Silk Road route being developed by China - part of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ truck, rail and sea transport infrastructure initiative to develop trade links with Europe.
The fraud includes miscategorising the commodity codes of clothing and electrical consumer codes to undervalue the import tariffs and VAT due.
