Poland and Germany tackle VAT fraud
- Aug 19, 2020 | Richard Asquith
The Polish National Revenue Administration and German Federal Ministry of Finance have completed a bi-lateral agreement on the exchange of information to detect VAT fraud. This adds to the agreements Poland has already signed with Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia.
The agreement sets up joint teams of VAT experts to review cross-border transactions and analytics to help identify fraudulent activities. It will also facilitate the instant sharing of data to expose missing trader and carousel fraud – which exploits a zero-rating VAT loophole in B2B transactions across EU borders.
The Polish VAT gap – the difference between expected and actual tax collections - has been shrinking since 2016. It fell in 2017 to around 14 percent of potential revenue, down from 23.9 percent in 2015 and 20 percent in 2016.
