Press Release: VAT: Commission welcomes Council adoption of rules for gas and electricity supplies

The European Commission has welcomed the Council's adoption of a Directive that modifies the rules for applying value added tax (VAT) to the supplies of gas and electricity so as to facilitate the Internal Market for energy. The new rules, based on a Commission proposal of 5 December 2002, will eliminate current problems of double taxation and non-taxation and distortions of competition between traders. They will do so by changing the place of taxation of natural gas in pipelines and of electricity from the place of supply to the place of consumption. The current rules worked adequately in a national context but are not appropriate now with market liberalisation and increasing cross-border supplies of gas and electricity. Member States must implement the new measures by 1 January 2005.

• Primary Source

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/02/1823&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/02/1823&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

---