The European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs has published a study providing an analysis of the main legislation on Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) in force in selected European Member States (mainly Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy). It also discusses the need for a potential legislative initiative of the European Union on […]

On 18 June, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council held a political debate on the European Commission’s proposal on the revision of VAT rates. During the past months, national delegations have been discussing the European Commission 2018 proposal aimed at granting Member States more flexibility in the application of reduced and zero-rates. In light of […]

The European Commission has launched a new learning portal ‘The CusTax EU Learning Portal’. Who is it for? Public and private sector customs and tax professionals (including for example national administrations, academia and researchers). What does it offer? A combination of different learning formats – from educational training and development to interactive exchanges of best […]

The European Commission has published a proposal exempting ‘goods and services made available by EU bodies and agencies to Member States and citizens during times of crisis’ from VAT.  This means that the European Commission and EU agencies and bodies would be able to import/purchase and distribute VAT-free vital goods and services. These include, for […]

On 22 March the European Parliament’s FISC subcommittee discussed its draft report on “Creating an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable European tax system in the post-Covid environment”. The aim of this initiative is to give the Commission the scope it needs to carry out reforms on environmental and societal taxation. During the meeting, it was […]

A new research commissioned by the Charity Tax Group [CTG] and undertaken by London Economics shows that VAT continues to place a significant burden on UK charities, with irrecoverable VAT now costing charities £1.8bn a year. The research also highlights the importance of existing VAT reliefs and exemptions for the charity sector, against a backdrop of calls for a widening of […]

The European Commission has approved a €665 million Austrian scheme to support non-profit organisations (NPOs) and their related entities under the State aid Temporary Framework. The support will be granted by a fund established by the Austrian Government and will be available to all types and sizes of NPOs, with some exceptions (e.g. financial sector […]

As of 1 May 2020, supplies of e-books, e-newspapers, e-magazines and academic e-journals in the UK are entitled to the same VAT treatment as supplies of their physical counterparts. Group 3 of Schedule 8 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (“Group 3”) provides for the zero rating of printed matter. Sections 30(4) and 96(9) […]

In 2013, ECCVAT was invited to speak on ‘The challenges of the current VAT system for NGOs’ during the Fiscalis Seminar (Mestre, Italy). You can find our presentation here.