EU Council reaches agreement on new rules for the exchange of VAT payment data

The European Council reached an agreement on a set of rules to facilitate detection of VAT tax fraud in cross-border e-commerce transactions. The new rules bring harmonization to the way member states collect the records from payment service providers, such as banks. A new central electronic system will be set up for the storage and processing of payment information by national anti-fraud officials. These rules complement the VAT regulatory framework for e-commerce, coming into force in January 2021, which introduced new VAT obligations for online marketplaces and simplified VAT compliance rules for online businesses.