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Proċedura : 2018/0413(CNS)
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It-Tnejn, 16 ta' Diċembru 2019 - Strasburgu

15. Rekwiżiti għall-fornituri tas-servizzi ta' pagament - Miżuri biex tissaħħaħ il-kooperazzjoni amministrattiva għall-ġlieda kontra l-frodi tal-VAT (dibattitu)
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  President. – The next item is the joint debate on

– the report by Lídia Pereira, on behalf of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on the proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards introducing certain requirements for payment service providers (COM(2018)0812 – C8-0015/2019 – 2018/0412(CNS)) (A9—0048/2019), and

– the report by Lídia Pereira, on behalf of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 as regards measures to strengthen administrative cooperation in order to combat VAT fraud (COM(2018)0813 – C8-0016/2019 – 2018/0413(CNS)) (A9-0047/2019).

I remind you that it is possible to request catch-the-eye and blue cards using both the standard registration and the electronic system. Instructions are available at the entrance of the Hemicycle.

 
  
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  Lídia Pereira, Relatora. – Senhora Presidente, Senhoras e Senhores Deputados, a digitalização das nossas sociedades e economias cria oportunidades para todos, cidadãos e empresas, novos produtos e melhores serviços, soluções ao segundo, mas abrem também a porta a formas mais sofisticadas de fugas à lei e aos impostos. Temos de antecipar os problemas do futuro e decidir, no presente, com a rapidez e a inteligência que esta era da inovação exige.

O IVA é uma importante fonte de receita fiscal para todos os Estados—Membros e para a União, que aqui tem uma fonte de receitas próprias. Harmonizar regras e aproximar políticas fiscais em sede de IVA é proteger a integridade do mercado interno e uma livre circulação de bens e serviços assente em regras fiscais justas. Combater a fraude e a evasão fiscal é uma prioridade para reforçar a confiança dos cidadãos nas instituições democráticas e nas administrações públicas por toda a Europa.

O IVA assenta na comunicação pelos operadores de determinada cadeia de valor e, por isso, baseado na confiança. Se é verdade que a esmagadora maioria desses agentes é confiável e cumpre as suas obrigações, infelizmente a fraude ao IVA continua a ser um problema. A diferença entre o IVA que se estimava cobrar e o efetivamente cobrado em 2017 foi de 137,5 mil milhões de euros. E isto significa um prejuízo de 267 euros por cada cidadão europeu.

A fraude ao IVA no comércio eletrónico na União representa anualmente 5 mil milhões de euros, o equivalente ao produto de todo o comércio eletrónico do mercado português num ano.

Os relatórios que debatemos hoje são a manifestação da vontade deste Parlamento de ir mais além no combate a esta fraude que nos prejudica a todos. Simultaneamente criamos um sistema central europeu para a recolha e o intercâmbio de dados sobre pagamentos e reforçamos as obrigações dos serviços de pagamentos na recolha, retenção e comunicação desses dados. Com as nossas propostas de alteração queremos sinalizar a vontade de colocar mais ambição e afirmar o compromisso deste Parlamento com um combate mais eficaz contra a fraude ao IVA.

Permitam-me, por isso, destacar alguns aspetos fundamentais:

O aumento do período de retenção da informação garante que as autoridades têm mais tempo para identificarem possíveis situações de fraude.

A determinação de um valor mínimo, que ativa a obrigação de comunicação por parte do serviço de pagamentos numa única transação, reduz o espaço para contornar o sistema que estamos a aprovar.

Com a referência expressa às obrigações perante a Autoridade Europeia de Proteção de Dados assinalamos que nenhuma diligência das autoridades públicas ou dos serviços de pagamento viola o direito fundamental dos europeus à privacidade e à proteção dos seus dados pessoais.

Defendendo a utilização de novas tecnologias nos sistemas de pagamentos, apelamos à modernização e sublinhamos a necessidade de simplificar procedimentos para as empresas e os cidadãos.

Caros colegas, do que falamos aqui, hoje, verdadeiramente, é de justiça, é de garantir que todos, independentemente do país ou das suas competências digitais, paguem a sua parte.

A tecnologia financeira está a mudar, todos os dias, a forma como consumimos, negociamos e pagamos os serviços que contratamos. E nós precisamos de adaptar a nossa legislação às novas realidades do mundo digital. A fraude ao IVA não conhece fronteiras e só pode ser combatida com uma cooperação crescente entre autoridades nacionais e instituições europeias.

Está nas nossas mãos garantir maior equidade, garantindo uma tributação mais justa e sem falhas, nivelando as condições numa luta, até hoje desigual, entre quem procura fugir às suas obrigações e quem defende a justiça fiscal.

 
  
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  Paolo Gentiloni, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, I am very proud to stand in front of this assembly for the first time as the Commissioner for economy.

I look forward to the important work ahead of us, and the fight against tax fraud is high on our respective agendas. I would like to thank the rapporteur, Lídia Pereira, and the members of Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) for their excellent work on the two proposals we are discussing.

VAT fraud is a major issue affecting all Member States and citizens alike, and it is important that measures aimed at attacking VAT fraud can be subject to a democratic debate in this plenary.

The present proposal should be examined in line with the VAT and e—commerce package that was adopted by the Council in December 2017, and will enter into application in January 2021. The proposal provides tax authorities with a powerful tool that will allow them to detect and fight VAT fraud in the e-commerce sector. European action is absolutely necessary.

In 2015, as the rapporteur remembers, EUR 5 billion of VAT was lost in the European Union solely on imports of goods. Similar numbers have been reported with regard to supplies of services. This problem is also likely to keep growing in future, considering the growth rate of e-commerce in Europe.

The Commission has proposed to create an obligation for payment service providers established in the Union to transmit data on the beneficiary of cross-border payments they execute. This obligation was designed to limit administrative burdens in that regard. The requested information is already available and used by payment service providers to process transactions.

Although this proposal constitutes a big step forward in the fight against VAT fraud, there is still much to do.

This year’s Commission study on the VAT gap shows that the Member States were in general losing EUR 137 billion in 2017, and these numbers are obviously still too high.

Because of this, I intend to make the fight against tax fraud a top priority of my mandate. Of course the fight against tax fraud goes hand in hand with improving tax compliance. This is why these two aspects will be part of a new action plan I will present next year.

EU business must be able to access the EU market without constraints and unfair competition by those that are not compliant. EU citizens must be able to legally access the worldwide market and benefit from the redistribution of the revenue collected.

 
  
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  Othmar Karas, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar, Frau Berichterstatterin, meine Damen und Herren! Wir beklagen jedes Jahr von Neuem eine Mehrwertsteuerlücke von 137,5 Mrd. EUR, das sind 11,2 % der erwarteten Mehrwertsteuereinnahmen, einen grenzüberschreitenden Mehrwertsteuerbetrug von über 50 Mrd. EUR und einen wachsenden Steuerbetrug im Online-Handel, wo über 90 % der Geschäfte über Zahlungsdienstleister abgewickelt werden.

Daher bin ich sehr froh, erstens über die Ankündigungen, Herr Kommissar, von Ihnen über den Aktionsplan, aber auch über die beiden Berichte meiner Kollegin Pereira, weil wir mit beiden Berichten einen sehr wichtigen Schritt auf unserem Weg zu einer Schaffung eines einheitlichen europäischen Mehrwertsteuerraums setzen und diese Maßnahmen das neue Mehrwertsteuerregelwerk für Online-Handel, das im Januar 2021 in Kraft treten soll, ergänzen.

Wir brauchen dringend – statt einem System der Ausnahmen und Schlupflöcher – ein System der gemeinsamen Regeln. Wir müssen den Mehrwertsteuer-Betrügern das Handwerk legen, und wir müssen den inakzeptablen Raub von Steuergeldern unterbinden. Daher sage ich auch in Richtung des Rates, trotz der positiven Entscheidungen am 8. November: Wer mehr europäische und gemeinsame europäische Steuerpolitik blockiert, stützt die Betrüger und stützt die Verschwendung.

Wir müssen daher dieses Instrument der Einstimmigkeit bekämpfen. Wir brauchen eine stärkere Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Steuerbehörden und den Zahlungsdienstleistern, die harmonisierten Anforderungen an Zahlungsdienstleister bei grenzüberschreitenden Zahlungen, den Zugriff auf Informationen durch Betrugsbekämpfungsstellen und ein neues zentrales elektronisches System für die Speicherung von Zahlungsinformationen.

 
  
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  Csaba Molnár, a S&D képviselőcsoport nevében. – Elnök asszony! Az Európai Unió egyik legfontosabb feladata a társadalmi igazságosság, az emberhez méltó élet biztosítása az Unió minden polgárának. Ennek pedig alapvető feltétele az igazságos adózás. A határon átnyúló adócsalások elleni küzdelem ezért az Európai Uniónak, így nekünk is, a parlamenti képviselőknek is egyik legfontosabb feladata. Nem hagyhatjuk tovább, hogy mindenféle kiskapuk, a tagállamok együttműködésének hiánya vagy néhány tagállam cinizmusa, cinikus összekacsintása miatt multicégek egész sora kerülje el az adózást Európa-szerte. Magyar képviselőként egy olyan országból jövök, ahol az egész Európai Unió, sőt az egész világ legmagasabb áfakulcsa van: 27 százalékos.

Ez azt is jelenti, hogy hazám az áfacsalók egyik kedvenc célterülete, vadászterülete. Pontosan tudom magyarként, hogy milyen az, amikor a közpénz csalókhoz vándorol. Az adócsalás nem néhány nemzetközi ügyeskedő csínytevése, hiszen 137 milliárd eurónyi kárt okoz szerte Európában. Ezért az adócsalás olyan bűn, amely súlyosan fenyegeti az oktatás, az egészségügy, a szociális ellátások és általában a közszolgáltatások működését, aláássa a társadalmi igazságosságot, a határok nélküli közös Európánkat, és persze rombolja az európai demokráciát, és kockáztatja a mindennapok békéjét. Ezért nagyon fontos, hogy a határon átnyúló áfacsalásokkal kapcsolatos tervezeteket közösen el tudtuk készíteni, és le tudtuk tenni a Parlament asztalára.

Ahogy megígértük, Önökkel együtt, közösen azon dolgoztunk, hogy ezeket az adókat ne csak a munkabérből élőknek, a családi vállalkozásoknak kelljen megfizetniük, hanem elérjük azt, hogy senki se csalhasson, senki se élhessen vissza kiemelt helyzetével. Ezek a javaslatok erősítik a tagállamok közötti együttműködést és információcserét, biztosítják az adatok hosszú távú rögzítését, így hatékony fellépést biztosítanak a határon átnyúló adócsalásokkal szemben.

Ezért arra kérem önöket, hogy szavazzanak erre igennel, mindegyik javaslat megérdemli, hogy jogszabállyá váljon.

 
  
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  Ondřej Kovařík, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Madam President, first I would like to welcome the Commissioner’s commitment that he has just articulated to make VAT and tax fraud in general his priority.

Commissioner, I think you would also have huge support in this House. You mentioned that the numbers of the value added tax gap are slowly and gradually decreasing but, according to the Commission estimates and indications, it should still be around EUR 130 billion in 2018 and that is indeed still quite a high number. As was also mentioned by other colleagues, the VAT carousel frauds, whereby criminals abuse the EU cross—border trading system, contribute EUR 50 billion on average per year in lost revenue for Member States’ tax authorities.

The legislation we are debating here today will help drastically reduce the revenues lost to VAT fraud in our financial systems. Their losses are damaging not only to the governments. They are also felt throughout the economic chain and therefore damage the vast majority of legitimate businesses, particularly small and medium-sized companies in the European Union. I therefore fully support the efforts to address the deficiencies in VAT regimes in Europe.

From the European Parliament perspective, we have emphasised the importance of legislation being appropriate for the modern age. This is something we will need to monitor on a continuous basis to ensure that our rules are fit for purpose and achieve the goal of increasing the efficiency of VAT collection and combating fraud.

We must not forget the time and money it takes, especially for smaller companies, to collect and report their appropriate VAT information to authorities. Therefore, for our group it is important that the new rules do not add an undue administrative burden which may hamper the efforts of smaller businesses to grow, particularly across borders within the single market.

European legislation in this area needs to be future-oriented with a clear focus on ensuring it can be applied as business models evolve in the coming years. I therefore appreciate that the Parliament has specifically pointed to the digital arena in this report as our commercial environment becomes ever more digital. I would also encourage VAT authorities to consider the development of artificial-intelligence-based solutions to tackle fraud. Specifically, artificial intelligence could be used to create a risk model that would help identify anomalies in the system. In this way, the AI could minimise hours spent by officials in compiling such information. By increasing efficiency, we can target carousel frauds in particular in a more effective manner.

Let me conclude by thanking the rapporteur and colleagues for their cooperation on these two files. We have drafted two reports that reflect Parliament’s priorities, particularly as regards the administrative cooperation and payment service providers. I believe that these are the right steps needed in the area of tax collection, which enhance cross-border cooperation on the one hand and help fight tax fraud on the other.

 
  
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  Ernest Urtasun, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, these measures were urgently needed, because online VAT fraud is currently costing the EU 5 billion euros a year. Online shopping is on the rise; this is something that will get even bigger and that we need to address. We want to highlight the cooperation between tax administrations. This is really important when we have an internal market like the EU with many cross-border transactions. Tax administrations need to be properly staffed to be able to fight tax evasion, and unfortunately this is not always the case.

This reform is part of a series of VAT reforms to improve our VAT rules in the European Union. But one very important issue that is not covered by this reform, but which the EU needs to look into urgently, is the exemption of VAT for the aviation sector. It is not coherent to exempt the aviation sector from VAT when other sectors are subject to it, especially when the Commission presents a Green Deal and needs to make all its legislation aligned with the commitments taken during the COP21 in Paris.

 
  
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  Gunnar Beck, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, werte Kollegen! Mehrwertsteuerbetrug ist in der Tat ein Problem, aber die Kommission legt uns nur Scheinlösungen und eine Rezeptur für mehr Überwachung und Steuermaximierung vor. Durch 135 Milliarden Euro geringere als die erwarteten Mehrwertsteuereinnahmen entgingen jedem Bürger – so die Kommission – Einnahmen von 267 Euro jedes Jahr. Lesen wir richtig: dem Bürger? Gemeint ist wohl eher der Kommission und den Mitgliedstaaten.

Die EU hat die höchsten Konsumsteuern der Welt. Im Schnitt zahlen EU-Bürger mehr als das Doppelte als andere anderswo. Verglichen mit Japan oder Kanada zahlen wir das Drei- bis Vierfache. Auch bei den Personensteuern und Sozialabgaben ist die EU spitze. Nirgends hat der Staat seine Hände so tief in so vielen Taschen wie in Europa. Erwarten sollte man daher eine Rundum-Luxusversorgung der Bürger von der Wiege bis ins Grab – die besten Kindergärten, Schulen, Universitäten und Krankenhäuser und die höchsten Renten. Tatsächlich sinken die Renten, stagnieren die Reallöhne, die Verschuldung steigt und die Wirtschaft stagniert. Warum? Die EU und die Regierungen sollten endlich ehrlich sein: Sie brauchen immer mehr Geld, um ihre multikulturellen LBGT- und Weltrettungsfantasien auszuleben. Deshalb will die EU das Einstimmigkeitsprinzip bei Steuern untergraben und verlangt mehr Überwachung und mächtigere Staatsanwälte. Die EU will neue und höhere Steuern und weniger Demokratie, die Bürger aber wollen das Gegenteil.

 
  
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  Eugen Jurzyca, za skupinu ECR. – Vážená pani predsedajúca, podvody v oblasti DPH patria nepochybne k najväčším podvodom v Európskej únii. Podľa odhadu Komisie ide o 137 mld. EUR ročne. Obrovské, astronomické číslo a nejde len o to, že chýbajú potom v zdravotníctve, v školstve, ale ide aj o to, že dane musia potom viac platiť tí, tí najpoctivejší. Je preto dobré, že Únia koná, ale nie je celkom pravda, že je to problém celoeurópsky. Ak sa pozrieme na graf, na tento graf, tak vidíme daňovú medzeru vo výbere DPH v jednotlivých členských štátoch. Kým na najlepšom konci daňová medzera DPH v Luxembursku alebo na Cypre nedosahuje ani 1 %, na najhoršom konci zoznamu vysoko prevyšuje 30 %, to je päťdesiat násobok.

Chcem preto vyzvať Komisiu, aby v takýchto situáciách robila analýzy, kvalitné analýzy na základe objektívnych dát. Tie by nám umožnili rozhodovať sa tak, ako sa máme, tzn. na základe faktov a nie nejakých iba názorov alebo emócií, a šíriť potom tie najlepšie praktiky do ďalších krajín.

 
  
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  Δημήτριος Παπαδημούλης, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας GUE/NGL. – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Gentiloni σας καλωσορίζουμε στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, αφού είναι η πρώτη σας παρουσία εδώ, αλλά, επειδή μιλούμε για μια μεγάλης έκτασης φορολογική απάτη και φοροδιαφυγή, αυτό που ζητά το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο από την Επιτροπή είναι να ανεβάσετε ταχύτητα ως προς την αποτελεσματικότητα για τον περιορισμό αυτής της εκτεταμένης φορολογικής απάτης. Τα μεγέθη είναι τρομακτικά, πολύ μεγάλα, 137 δισεκατομμύρια το χρόνο για την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση τα υπολογίζετε εσείς στην Επιτροπή. Αυτή η φορολογική απάτη φορτώνεται στην πλάτη των συνεπών και των έντιμων φορολογούμενων, οδηγεί σε περικοπές του κοινωνικού κράτους και παραβιάζει και τον δίκαιο ανταγωνισμό ανάμεσα στις επιχειρήσεις διότι ευνοούνται οι απατεώνες και τιμωρούνται οι συνεπείς. Για να αντιμετωπιστεί αυτό, χρειάζεται μεγαλύτερη ευρωπαϊκή συνεργασία, αποτελεσματικότεροι ελεγκτικοί μηχανισμοί, βαρύτερες κυρώσεις προς τους παραβάτες. Χρειάζεται περισσότερη και καλύτερη Ευρώπη και, για να γίνει αυτό, χρειάζονται και νόμοι, και κανονισμοί, αλλά και χρήματα. Θέλω επίσης να καυτηριάσω την απουσία του Συμβουλίου. Διότι το Κοινοβούλιο ζητά πράγματα, η Επιτροπή τα υπόσχεται αλλά το Συμβούλιο απουσιάζει και, επιπλέον, η Φινλανδική Προεδρία στην πρόσφατη πρότασή της για το νέο πολυετή προϋπολογισμό προτείνει περικοπή των κονδυλίων για το πρόγραμμα συνεργασίας για την αντιμετώπιση της φορολογικής απάτης κατά 40% σε σχέση με ό,τι προτείνει το Κοινοβούλιο και κατά 20% σε σχέση με ό,τι είχαμε στο προηγούμενο δημοσιονομικό πλαίσιο. Επομένως κοροϊδευόμαστε! Δεν αρκούν τα λόγια, χρειάζονται έργα και αποτελέσματα.

 
  
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  Henrik Overgaard Nielsen (NI). – Madam President, any decision about VAT will affect any free trade agreement agreed between the EU and the UK.

On Thursday, the people of the UK voted resoundingly for Brexit and they voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU. They also voted emphatically against the customs union, against staying in the single market and against the European Court of Justice having any jurisdiction in the UK.

Everybody agreed that this election was a Brexit election, so the will of the people has been heard for the second time, may I say, on the issue of Brexit.

And the people have yet again told us that they knew what they voted for in 2016. This general election has proven that, when given the choice, the British people choose free trade and cooperation and not a political super-state.

Will the remaining EU citizens ever be given this choice or will they drift further and further into the Federal States of Europe? The citizens of Europe should be given the choice and if they choose, like the Brits, we should roll back federalism and start co-operating again like nation states. It is called democracy.

It might seem strange to many of you, but not everyone subscribes to a centralised monolithic form of politics. Some of us actually believe in democracy. To quote Rabbi Sacks, ‘every one of us counts, every one of us has a voice’. You lose that, you lose everything, because then it becomes a game for the rich and powerful.

(Applause)

 
  
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  Pablo Arias Echeverría (PPE). – Señora presidenta, señor comisario, señora ponente, todos los Estados miembros comparten el problema del fraude fiscal en las operaciones a través del comercio electrónico en la Unión Europea. Se estiman unas pérdidas en recaudación del IVA en operaciones transfronterizas de en torno a 5 000 millones de euros. También se ha constatado fraude de IVA en prestación de servicios, aunque este es, sin duda, más difícil de cuantificar.

Los Estados miembros por sí solos no disponen de la información necesaria para garantizar una correcta y efectiva aplicación de las reglas del IVA. El intercambio de datos no siempre es posible por las limitaciones legales, lo que hace que la cooperación administrativa sea ineficiente de cara a combatir el fraude fiscal en el comercio electrónico. Necesitamos nuevas herramientas para luchar contra el fraude en las transacciones transfronterizas en el comercio electrónico. El intercambio de información, la agilidad en la toma de decisiones y la simplificación de la norma son cruciales para combatir el fraude de manera efectiva. Por esto, apoyamos la propuesta de crear un sistema electrónico central de almacenamiento de información de pagos, y la obligatoriedad por parte de los Estados miembros de recoger y transmitir la información de proveedores de servicios de pago. Para esto, es necesario simplificar, es necesario armonizar el proceso de recogida de datos y su formato. De esta forma, seremos más efectivos y podremos evitar que los proveedores de pagos estén obligados a presentar la misma información con formato diferente en cada Estado miembro. Esto supondrá, sin duda, una herramienta efectiva para la lucha contra el fraude y será una eficiente acción que permitirá a los proveedores de servicios de pago ahorrar tiempo y recursos, eliminando las barreras para seguir implementando un verdadero mercado único digital.

Señora Pereira, enhorabuena por este buen trabajo. Debemos seguir avanzando.

 
  
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  Marek Belka (S&D). – Madam President, we are talking about the tax that is a major revenue source for Member States. Therefore, the fight against VAT fraud and VAT losses is to strive to minimise the impact on state budgets. It is a fight for our governments to finance hospitals, schools or invest in a safe infrastructure. According to statistics, the VAT gap in 2017 amounted to over 137 billion euros; that means more than around 260 euros per EU citizen were lost. While the differences across Member States vary, a unilateral fight to fight tax fraud is not efficient – only a common set of actions can solve or minimise the problem.

Hence, I welcome the Commission’s proposals on the files we are discussing: introducing requirements for payment service providers, and strengthening cooperation within the EU in order to combat VAT fraud. At the same time, I want to stress two issues. The Commission should evaluate if virtual currency platforms should also be covered by the legislation. Also, in order to have more precise data on the VAT gap, I call on the Commission to develop a common statistical approach to quantify this phenomenon.

 
  
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  Bogdan Rzońca (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu! Skala oszustw w Unii Europejskiej w zakresie VAT-u jest ogromna, do końca nie wiadomo jaka. Współpraca państw członkowskich przy zwalczaniu oszustw jest po prostu konieczna. Grupa ECR popiera Komisję i Radę w walce z wyłudzeniami bądź unikaniem podatku VAT, szczególnie właśnie w obszarze handlu internetowego.

Konieczne wydaje się konstruowanie lepszego prawa, lepszych narzędzi po to, żebyśmy mogli stworzyć taką sytuację, że nie ucierpią na tej legislacji firmy, które chcą się rozwijać, ani konsumenci, którzy chcą korzystać z rynku. Wyzwanie stanowi również klarowność w ochronie i gromadzeniu danych osobowych – tu konieczna jest oczywiście współpraca z Europejskim Inspektorem Ochrony Danych Osobowych.

Powinniśmy uzyskiwać informacje na temat nieuczciwego sprzedawcy mającego siedzibę poza państwem konsumpcji, a zaoszczędzone środki mogą być kierowane na inne ważne obszary działalności państwowej, tak jak w Polsce. Polska w ostatnich latach bardzo skutecznie zwalczała wyłudzenia podatkowe, a pochodzące z tej walki środki przeznaczaliśmy właśnie na sprawy społeczne.

Potrzebna jest więc determinacja, by skutecznie walczyć z luką VAT-owską, co przyniesie chwałę wszystkim krajom Unii Europejskiej i uporządkuje prawo.

 
  
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  Emmanuel Maurel (GUE/NGL). – Madame la Présidente, il est vrai que la mondialisation et la dématérialisation des achats ont vu émerger toutes sortes d’escrocs qui fraudent massivement sur la TVA, au point que l’écart entre ce qui devrait être perçu et ce qui l’est réellement, pour l’Europe, est de 137 milliards d’euros. Pour mon propre pays, la France, c’est près de 12 milliards d’euros, c’est à dire trois fois le déficit de notre régime de retraite. C’est colossal.

Le texte parle évidemment des États membres, dont la coordination est inefficace et dont l’administration fiscale n’est pas suffisamment vigilante. Mais il nous faut aussi parler des vrais coupables, c’est à dire, notamment, de tous les opérateurs de commerce électronique. Nous parlons des services de paiement en ligne, mais je veux que nous mettions l’accent sur toutes les plateformes de vente comme Amazon, Alibaba, Cdiscount, qui sont un véritable angle mort de notre réflexion commune et qui ne sont absolument pas gênées de commercialiser des produits non assujettis à la TVA. Par exemple, en France, 98 % de ceux qui passent par Amazon et consorts ne sont même pas immatriculés à la TVA.

Il faut donc une réponse à la hauteur de l’enjeu parce que, là, nous avons de véritables fraudeurs fiscaux, et l’Europe ne peut pas se contenter de laisser ces multinationales ne pas payer d’impôts comme elles le devraient.

 
  
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  Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI). – Poštovana predsjedavajuća, danas govorimo o poreznim prevarama. Kad govorimo o poreznim prevarama u Hrvatskoj, ne možemo ne dotaknuti se Agrokora, jednog velikog koncerna koji je upao u insolvencijski postupak prije dvije godine, koji je najveći takav u jugoistočnoj Europi.

To je koncern od nekih sedamdest firmi s oko 60 tisuća zaposlenih i na tom primjeru pokazalo se točnim sve ono što sam govorio od svog ulaska u politiku, a to je da postoje dvostruki standardi u Hrvatskoj, da nema vladavine prava i da nema socijalne pravde u Hrvatskoj. Pokazalo se da, ako znate prave ljude, da možete raditi što hoćete, a da vama ne može nitko ništa.

Krenimo redom. U Hrvatskoj ima oko 600 velikih poreznih obveznika. U 20-ak godina u 146 firmi, od tih 600 nikada nije izvršen porezni nadzor. Nikada nije tamo stupio porezni inspektor. Mnoge od tih firmi su iz koncerna Agrokor. U 252 firme nije nikad bilo nadzora poreza na dobit, u 378 firmi nije nikad bilo nadzora dohotka i doprinosa, i konačno, što je današnja tema, u 170 od tih 600 firmi nikad nije bilo nadzora PDV-a, iako je po poreznim zakonima prioritet hrvatske države upravo porezni nadzor u velikim firmama. To se u praksi nije dešavalo.

Gospodin Todorić, koji je bio vlasnik Agrokora, njemu se godinama pogodovalo na sve načine pa su se tako krivotvorila izvješća, to se sve toleriralo desetljećima. Izdavao je bonove, mjenice bez pokrića i tu se pokazao dvostruki standard. S druge strane, malim poreznim obveznicima, pogotovo onima nepodobnima, inspekcija je dolazila redovito, vršila je nad njima teror. Sve ovo jasno pokazuje da ove mjere nisu dovoljne i da će Hrvatska ostati Divlji zapad i Eldorado za porezne neplatiše.

 
  
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  Ivan Štefanec (PPE). – Vážená pani predsedajúca, som presvedčený, že boj proti daňovým podvodom by mal byť jednou z hlavných úloh príslušných orgánov a inštitúcií Európskej únie. Globalizovaný trh, nové finančné nástroje a digitalizácia prinášajú okrem komfortu a úspor aj nové príležitosti pre rôznych zločincov. Podvody sú čoraz sofistikovanejšie a štáty samotné majú stále menej možností ako ich odhaľovať. Vieme, že v roku 2017 predstavovali celkové úniky na dani z pridanej hodnoty neuveriteľnú sumu 137 miliárd EUR. To znamená, že každé desiate euro, ktoré sa malo skončiť, ktoré mali vybrať jednotlivé štáty, skončilo vo vreckách mafie. To sú peniaze, o ktoré prišli všetci občania. Závažnosť tejto problematiky podčiarkuje aj to, že to boli práve zločiny v daňovej oblasti, ktoré viedli k smrti novinárov Daphne Caruany Galizia a Jána Kuciaka s partnerkou. Žijeme v dobe, keď sa najcennejšou komoditou stávajú informácie. Je preto nevyhnutné, aby úrady jednotlivých štátov spolu zdieľali čo najviac dát a dokázali objektívne vyhodnocovať a prípadne používať ich aj v trestných konaniach. Je potrebné zaviesť mechanizmy, ktoré zabránia únikom pomocou takzvaných kryptomien. Bežnou praxou podvodníkov je tiež zakladanie fiktívnych firiem v rôznych členských štátoch Únie a následné zložité obchodné transakcie medzi nimi. Využívajú pri tom rozdiely v legislatíve a slabú vzájomnú komunikáciu úradov. Tieto slabé miesta môžeme odstrániť. Verím, že nová Európska komisia ich identifikuje a v súčinnosti s Európskym parlamentom sa nám podarí sumu, o ktorú prichádzame pri daňových podvodoch, zredukovať na minimum. Potrebujeme urobiť všetko preto, aby sme zjednodušili daňový systém a pomohli odhaliť tých, ktorí ho zneužívajú. Naši občania si to zaslúžia.

 
  
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  Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Luka w podatku VAT w całej Unii sięga 140 miliardów euro rocznie, jak już kilkakrotnie mówiono na tej sali. Jest to prawie jednoroczny unijny budżet, choć rozłożenie tej luki na poszczególne kraje członkowskie jest rzeczywiście nierównomierne. Mój kraj, Polska, w ciągu ostatnich trzech lat zmniejszył tę lukę z 24 % w 2015 roku do 12 % w 2018 roku, a w tym roku luka spadnie poniżej 10 %. Mam nadzieję, że inne kraje będą brały przykład z Polski.

Propozycja legislacyjna Komisji i Rady w sposób zrównoważony odpowiada nowym wyzwaniom, z którymi muszą się mierzyć organy podatkowe państw członkowskich, szczególnie biorąc pod uwagę rosnącą rolę platform ułatwiających handel internetowy, ale jednocześnie utrudniających zadania administracji podatkowej. Zharmonizowanie sposobu gromadzenia informacji na temat płatności przez pośredników oraz wymiany informacji między państwami zaproponowane w tej legislacji, w tym powstanie instytucji zarządzania i obsługi centralnego systemu o płatnościach czyli tzw. CESOP, powinno przynieść wymierne korzyści wszystkim krajom członkowskim.

 
  
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  Barbara Thaler (PPE). – Frau Präsidentin, sehr geehrter Herr Kommissar, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen, liebes Publikum vor den Bildschirmen! Ich spreche in diesem Haus als Abgeordnete zum Europäischen Parlament und heute auch als IT-Unternehmerin. Wir haben gehört, dass im Jahr 2017 die EU-Mehrwertsteuerlücke circa 137 Milliarden Euro betragen hat. Das ist nicht ganz ein Siebtel des kompletten aktuellen mehrjährigen Finanzrahmens oder die gleiche Summe, die wir für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit, Wachstum und Jobs ausgegeben haben – in sieben Jahren wohlgemerkt. Das macht mehr als deutlich, wie dringend hier Regelungen geschaffen werden müssen, um Mehrwertsteuerbetrug zu verhindern.

Auch ein Grund für die steigende Lücke ist spezieller Mehrwertsteuerbetrug im e-Commerce. Aber ein Mitgliedsland alleine hat selten die Möglichkeiten oder alle notwendigen Informationen und daher kaum die Chance, dem Problem Herr zu werden. Mit dem vorliegenden Vorschlag haben wir, haben die Mitgliedstaaten nun ein starkes Instrument in der Hand, um faire Wettbewerbsbedingungen für internationalen Handel und Online-Handel sicherstellen und auch kontrollieren zu können. Damit werden wir auch ein positives Signal an all die kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen senden, die jetzt schon den Großteil der Steuerlast tragen.

 
  
 

Catch-the-eye procedure

 
  
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  Maria Grapini (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, domnule comisar, îmi pun toată speranța în dumneavoastră pentru că acest subiect noi l-am dezbătut și în mandatul trecut. Evident că, sigur, Comisia, noi, Parlamentul, am încercat să găsim instrumente pentru a contracara evaziunea pe TVA. Sigur, Comisia a identificat câteva. Avem și instrumente, avem Eurofisc, instrumentul prin care statele membre își transmit informațiile. Din păcate, există evaziune transfrontalieră pe TVA, există și în comerțul electronic, există și la exporturi, există și între statele membre și țările terțe. Există, de asemenea, achiziții fictive.

Ce ar trebui să facem - să identificăm alte instrumente prin care să putem să punem capăt─ pentru că nu microîntreprinderile, nu întreprinderile mici și mijlocii fac evaziunea ─ ? Există o legătură cu criminalitatea economică. Evaziunea pe TVA este plasată în această zonă și cred că trebuie să găsim alte instrumente care să ducă la diminuare. Subliniez, totuși, că față de 2016, când aveam 150 de miliarde, a mai scăzut un pic, însă domnule comisar, cred că aveți mult de lucru pe această temă.

 
  
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  Vlad-Marius Botoş (Renew). – Doamnă președintă, stimați colegi, domnule comisar, sunt total de acord că este necesară o abordare comună în cuantificarea și analiza colectării TVA. Crearea unui sistem electronic central de informații asupra plăților este o soluție viabilă doar în măsura în care statele membre se vor putea ralia la acest sistem și vor putea oferi colaborare optimă din punct de vedere al introducerii datelor necesare.

Trebuie, însă, să atrag atenția asupra faptului că există state membre care nu au capacitatea administrativă și tehnică de a colecta și furniza toate datele necesare în timp real și de a se adapta rapid dezvoltărilor tehnice. Nu trebuie să scăpăm din vedere faptul că este necesar să găsim de la bun început soluția de a aduce și a menține la același nivel, în toate statele membre, capacitățile administrative și tehnice. Totodată, trebuie să ne asigurăm că există mecanisme de adaptare rapidă și evoluția și dezvoltarea sistemului centralizat CESOP care să respecte trendul de digitalizare economică europeană.

 
  
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  Tudor Ciuhodaru (S&D). – Doamnă președintă, domnule Gentiloni, trebuie să recunosc că sunt extrem de îngrijorat. Eu sunt pentru prima dată în Parlamentul European și când auzi că această fraudă este echivalentă cu bugetul Uniunii Europene, poți să îți pui doar mari semne de întrebare dacă acești bani care ar trebui să fie folosiți pentru sănătate, educație sau infrastructură pleacă în alte direcții.

În primul mi se pare absolut rezonabilă acea idee de sistem centralizat la nivel european, dar eram de aceeași părere: cine îl pune în practică? Pe de altă parte, poate ar fi momentul să ne gândim și la prevenție. La prevenție ar fi vorba despre o fiscalitate echitabilă în toate țările europene.

Prevenția ar însemna să fie controlate și acele multinaționale a căror problemă s-a ridicat astăzi în plenul Parlamentului European și, de ce nu, dacă vorbim de sume atât de importante, poate găsiți ca pe acea platformă comună să colaborați cu o noua instituție, cu Procurorul European, în așa fel încât aceste lucruri să fie depistate și sancționate și în așa fel încât, poate, să nu mai asistăm la aceste deturnări.

Vă mulțumesc, vă doresc succes și sincer să fiu, nu aș vrea să fiu în locul dumneavoastră pentru că pare din ce în ce mai mult o luptă cu morile de vânt.

 
  
 

(End of catch-the-eye procedure)

 
  
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  Paolo Gentiloni, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, I would like to thank you all for the quality of our debate, and also for the very large support to the proposals that we are discussing.

I will make only two remarks. One is, as many of you have said, administrative cooperation will be key in this process and Member States’ tax authorities should make full use of the new and existing instruments. Second, we obviously need to take new steps forward – ambitious ones – because of the dimension of the problem that we are facing. We will work hand in hand.

I would like to inform you that the Commission will organise a conference to discuss how tax compliance and the fight against fraud can be improved. I hope that your input to this conference will be valuable. From this conference, we will bring results to the new Action Plan on fighting fraud and ensuring compliance, as I said before.

I strongly welcome and value the contribution of the Parliament in these issues. You can count on my full commitment to work with you in the next five years to ensure a fair tax environment in Europe. This, I think, is a common commitment of the Commission and the Parliament.

 
  
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  Lídia Pereira, Relatora. – Senhora Presidente, Senhoras e Senhores Deputados, agradeço os contributos de todos, que valorizam este debate e mostram o quanto estamos empenhados no combate à evasão fiscal na União e, em particular, na luta contra a fraude ao IVA. Estes relatórios refletem uma ambição ponderada e assente na certeza de que a digitalização está a mudar as nossas vidas todos os dias.

Por isso, legislar hoje significa mais que encontrar soluções gerais e abstratas: significa também encontrar soluções concretas para problemas que, no pormenor, podem tornar-se prejuízos significativos, prejuízos para o erário público dos Estados—Membros, para o orçamento geral da União e, na verdade, para o orçamento familiar dos europeus.

A fraude ao IVA no comércio eletrónico na União Europeia está a crescer porque o comércio eletrónico na União está a aumentar. Muitas vezes, proteger o mercado interno exige que saibamos esperar e deixar o mercado funcionar. Não é o caso. Estamos a legislar assim porque acreditamos num mercado justo em que a fiscalidade e as obrigações tributárias podem ser um instrumento de justiça e de proteção das empresas e dos cidadãos.

É verdade que estes relatórios são sobre o IVA no comércio eletrónico, mas podem ser um sinal a partir deste setor para a grande reforma do IVA que ambicionamos para a Europa. Uma reforma para uma fiscalidade mais adaptada aos desafios da economia digital, mais ambiciosa na construção de um orçamento europeu focado na coesão, na convergência e na competitividade.

Os impostos são inevitáveis, como sabemos. O nosso desafio é transformá-los num instrumento ao serviço das nossas economias, do crescimento e do emprego.

 
  
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  President. – The joint debate is closed.

The vote will take place on Tuesday, 17 December 2019.

 
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