EU and VAT fraud
European law enforcement and tax authorities pledged greater co-operation and agreed practical ways to jointly fight a multi-billion pound criminal attack on the VAT system at a recent summit hosted by HMRC. To improve the EU's response to VAT fraud:
- there will be designated contact points with each Member State on criminal and civil investigations;
- Member States will exchange information better and faster;
- Member States must develop a common approach to civil interventions under EU VAT law and to improve the quality and speed of response;
- Europol to develop and MTIC fraud threat assessment to support prioritisation and targeting of criminal interventions.
HMRC news release dated 21 February 2007
