Directive (EU) 2018/912 amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax as regards the obligation to respect a minimum standard rate

Summary:

The European Commission adopted on 19 December 2017 a legislative proposal to amend Directive 2006/112/EC (the VAT Directive) with regard to the obligation to respect a minimum standard rate.

The Council of the European Union adopted a Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on 22 June 2018.

Further information:

The Directive makes the 15% minimum standard rate a permanent feature of the common VAT system.

This minimum rate was maintained on a provisional basis since VAT rules for the European Union's single market were first applied in 1993. It was last extended in May 2016 for two years, expiring on 31 December 2017.

In October 2017 the Commission announced, as part of its follow-up to the VAT Action Plan, that it would propose a reform of VAT rates, which would be consistent with the definitive arrangements based on the destination principle that would gradually replace the existing transitional arrangements. Considering that all Member States were applying a standard rate of at least 17%, the existing arrangement for a minimum standard rate of 15% remained appropriate, and was therefore made permanent.

EUR-Lex: COM(2017)783: Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax, with regard to the obligation to respect a minimum standard rate https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2017:783:FIN

Legislative Train: Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2006/112 setting the minimum VAT standard rate on a permanent basis http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-deeper-and-fairer-internal-market-with-a-strengthened-industrial-base-taxation/file-a-permanent-minimum-vat-standard-rate-reform-of-the-vat-directive

EP: Legislative Observatory: Procedure file for a common system of value added tax (VAT): minimum standard rate http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil-mobile/fiche-procedure/2017/0349(CNS)

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 22.06.18: VAT minimum standard rate set permanently at 15% https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/06/22/vat-minimum-standard-rate-set-permanently-at-15/

---