EU: Tax fraud would climb up to 1000 billion Euros

EU: Tax fraud would climb up to 1000 billion Euros

The European Union has discovered global tax fraud worth around 2.2 billion Euros!

 

Tax evasion and Tax avoidance is a huge problem and concern to all European citizens. According to its figures, the European Union has uncovered international tax fraud estimated at 2.2 billion Euros in 14 countries, including Spain, France, and Germany.

 

"Probably the biggest VAT fraud ever investigated in the EU" involved more than 600 people, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said. Investigators revealed a network of "criminal activities" active in 26 of the 27 EU member states and other countries. The network extended to Albania, China, Mauritius as well as the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Tax Fraud: The European Public Prosecutor's Office opened the investigation a year and a half ago after the Portuguese authorities contacted them. It was a company in the Portuguese city of Coimbra which sold mobile phones and other electronic devices and was suspected of VAT fraud.

 

For its part, the “  Taxation and Customs Union  ” estimates that enormous amounts are lost due to tax evasion and tax avoidance and would go up to 1000 billion €.

 

The European Public Prosecutor's Office, Europol, and national authorities were confronted with a large fraud scheme involving around 9,000 companies. VAT Fraud - This chain included companies that acted as suppliers of electronic equipment and others that sold these devices online while claiming VAT refunds from national authorities before transferring these revenues abroad and disappearing.

 

50 billion infiltrates the "VAT carousels"

According to Europol estimates, this so-called VAT Fraud costs the European Union nearly 50 billion Euros a year. This Tax fraud concerns several companies established in at least two EU Member States. It consists of obtaining the deduction or reimbursement of VAT on an intra-Community supply of goods, even though this VAT has not been paid to the competent tax authority.

 

The European Public Prosecutor's Office, to which 22 of the 27 EU Member States belong, is responsible for fraud involving the EU budget.