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EU withdraws VAT travel agent and VAT recovery proposals

  • May 23, 2014 | Richard Asquith

EU withdraws VAT travel agent and VAT recovery proposals

The European Union withdrew a number of proposed VAT measures this week. These include:

  1. Withdrawal of amendment (COM(2002) 64 2002/0041) to the travel agents’ Tour Operator Margin Scheme. The special mechanism aimed to simplifying the application of European VAT for smaller operators buying packages around Europe. However, many countries have failed to follow the EU VAT Directive Article 26 on this matter, giving rise to complaints from the industry. This proposal to reform the system failed to get majority vote from member states, so has been withdrawn.

  2. Withdrawal of amendment (COM(2004)728 - 1 2004/0261) to the EU VAT recovery process for the reclaim of VAT by companies from other EU member states. This proposal related to changes to the VAT reclaim portals introduced in each member state to enable companies to file VAT recover claims through a simplified online portal.

VP Global Indirect Tax
Richard Asquith
VP Global Indirect Tax Richard Asquith
Richard Asquith is the former VP Global Indirect Tax at Avalara