(Special legislative procedure – consultation)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2016)0811),

–  having regard to Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C8‑0023/2017),

–  having regard to Rule 78c of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A8-0418/2018),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.  Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, in accordance with Article 293(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

3.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4.  Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to substantially amend the Commission proposal;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Text proposed by the Commission   Amendment Amendment 1 Proposal for a directive Recital 4 (4)  In order to limit the risk of fraud shifting between Member States, all Member States that fulfil certain criteria as regards their fraud level, in particular in relation to carousel fraud, and who are able to establish that other control measures are not sufficient to combat that fraud, should be allowed to use a GRCM. (4)  In order to limit the risk of fraud shifting between Member States, all Member States that fulfil certain criteria as regards their fraud level, in particular in relation to carousel fraud, and who are able to establish that other control measures are not sufficient to combat that fraud, should be allowed to use a GRCM. In addition, they should be required to establish that estimated gains in tax compliance and collection expected as a result of the introduction of the GRCM outweigh the estimated overall additional burdens on businesses and tax administrations and that businesses and tax administrations will not incur costs that are higher than those incurred as a result of the application of other control measures. Amendment 2 Proposal for a directive Recital 5 (5)  In addition, also bordering Member States that encounter a serious risk of shift of fraud to their territory, because of the authorisation of that mechanism in another Member State, should be allowed to use the GRCM, where other control measures would be insufficient to combat that risk of fraud. deleted Amendment 3 Proposal for a directive Recital 6 (6)  If Member States choose to apply the GRCM, they should apply it to all supplies of goods and services above a defined threshold per invoice. The GRCM should not be restricted to any specific sector. (6)  If Member States choose to apply the GRCM, they should apply it to all non-cross-border supplies of goods and services above a defined threshold per transaction. The GRCM should not be restricted to any specific sector. Amendment 4 Proposal for a directive Recital 7 a (new) (7a)  In order to be able to assess whether the introduction of the GRCM in one Member State results in fraud shifting towards other Member States and to be able to assess the degree of possible disturbances to the functioning of the internal market, it is appropriate to provide for a specific obligation to exchange information between Member States that apply the GRCM and other Member States. All such exchanges of information should be subject to applicable personal data protection and confidentiality provisions. Those provisions provide exemptions and restrictions for safeguarding the interests of Member States and of the Union in the area of taxation. Amendment 5 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 Until 30 June 2022 a Member State may, as a Generalised Reverse Charge Mechanism (GRCM), provide that the person liable for payment of VAT is the taxable person to whom supplies of goods and services are made above a threshold of EUR 10 000 per invoice, by derogation from Article 193. Until 30 June 2022 a Member State may, as a Generalised Reverse Charge Mechanism (GRCM), provide that the person liable for payment of VAT is the taxable person to whom supplies of goods and services are made above a threshold of EUR 25 000 per invoice, by derogation from Article 193. Amendment 6 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point a (a)  it has a VAT gap, expressed as a percentage of the VAT Total Tax Liability, of at least 5 percentage points above the Community median VAT gap; (a)  it had in 2014, in accordance with the method and figures set out in the 2016 final report dated 23 August 2016 on the VAT gap published by the Commission, a VAT gap, expressed as a percentage of the VAT Total Tax Liability, of at least 15 percentage points above the Community median VAT gap; Amendment 7 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point b (b)  it has a carousel fraud level within its total VAT gap of more than 25%; (b)  it has, based on the impact assessment that accompanied the legislative proposal for this Article, in the year covered by the report referred to in point (a) a carousel fraud level within its total VAT gap of more than 25 %; and Amendment 8 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c (c)  it establishes that other control measures are not sufficient to combat carousel fraud on its territory. (c)  it establishes that other control measures are not sufficient to combat carousel fraud on its territory, in particular by specifying the control measures applied and the particular reasons for their lack of effectiveness, as well as the reasons why VAT administrative cooperation has proven insufficient; and Amendment 9 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c a (new) (ca)  it establishes that the estimated gains in tax compliance and collection expected as a result of the introduction of the GRCM outweigh the expected overall additional burdens on businesses and tax administrations by at least 25 %; and Amendment 10 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c b (new) (cb)  it establishes that businesses and tax administrations will not incur, as a result of the introduction of the GRCM, costs that are higher than those incurred as a result of the application of other control measures. Amendment 11 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3 The Member State shall attach to the request referred to in paragraph 4 the calculation of the VAT gap according to the method and figures available in the latest report on the VAT gap published by the Commission. The Member State shall attach to the request referred to in paragraph 4 the calculation of the VAT gap according to the method and figures available in the report on the VAT gap published by the Commission, as referred to in point (a) of the second subparagraph. Amendment 12 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 2 2.  Until 30 June 2022, a Member State may provide that the person liable for payment of VAT is the taxable person to whom supplies of goods and services are made above a threshold of EUR 10 000 per invoice where this Member State: deleted (a)  has a common border with a Member State that is authorised to apply the GRCM; (b)  establishes that a serious risk of shift of fraud towards its territory exists because of the authorisation of the GRCM to that Member State; (c)  establishes that other control measures are not sufficient to combat fraud on its territory. Amendment 13 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 3 3.  Member States that apply the GRCM shall establish appropriate and effective electronic reporting obligations on all taxable persons and, in particular, on taxable persons who supply or receive the goods or services to which this mechanism applies. 3.  Member States that apply the GRCM shall establish appropriate and effective electronic reporting obligations on all taxable persons and, in particular, on taxable persons who supply or receive the goods or services to which this mechanism applies to ensure the effective functioning and monitoring of the application of the GRCM. Amendment 14 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point a (a)  a detailed justification that the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 are fulfilled; (a)  a detailed justification that the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 are fulfilled; and Amendment 15 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point b (b)  the starting date of the application of the GRCM and the period to be covered by it; (b)  the starting date of the application of the GRCM and the period to be covered by it; and Amendment 16 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point c (c)  actions to be taken to inform taxable persons of the introduction of the application of the GRCM; (c)  actions to be taken to inform taxable persons of the introduction of the application of the GRCM; and Amendment 17 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 – point d (d)  a detailed description of the accompanying measures referred to in paragraph 3. (d)  a detailed description of the accompanying measures referred to in paragraph 2. Amendment 18 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 Member States applying the GRCM shall submit an interim report to the Commission no later than two years after the start of application of the GRCM. This report shall provide a detailed assessment of the effectiveness of the GRCM. Member States applying the GRCM shall submit in electronic format to all Member States: (a)  the names of those persons who, in the twelve months preceding the date of application of the GRCM, have been subject to proceedings, whether criminal or administrative, for VAT fraud; (b)  the names of those persons, including in the case of legal persons the names of their directors, whose VAT registration in their Member State was terminated upon the introduction of the GRCM; and (c)  the names of those persons, including in the case of legal persons the names of their directors, who have failed to submit a VAT return for two consecutive tax periods after the introduction of the GRCM. The information referred to in points (a) and (b) shall be submitted no later than three months after the introduction of GRCM and shall be updated every three months thereafter. The information referred to in point (c) shall be submitted no later than nine months from the introduction of GRCM and shall be updated every three months thereafter. Member States applying the GRCM shall submit an interim report to the Commission no later than one year after the start of application of the GRCM. This report shall provide a detailed assessment of the effectiveness of the GRCM. Amendment 19 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 8 – subparagraph 1 Member States not applying the mechanism shall submit an interim report to the Commission as regards the impact in its territory of other Member States applying the GRCM no later than 30 June 2019, insofar the GRCM will have been applied for at least one year in one Member State by that date. Member States not applying the mechanism shall submit an interim report to the Commission as regards the impact in its territory of other Member States applying the GRCM. Such report shall be submitted to the Commission within three months of the GRCM being applied for one year in one Member State. Amendment 20 Proposal for a directive Article 1 – paragraph 1 Directive 2006/112/EC Article 199c – paragraph 10 – point a (a)  the evolution of the VAT gap; deleted Amendment 21 Proposal for a directive Article 2 – paragraph 2 It shall apply until 30 September 2022. It shall apply until 30 June 2022.