European Commission propose new rules to give Member States more flexibility to set VAT Rates

31 January 2018

During January 2018, the European Commission proposed new rules to give Member States more flexibility to set their own VAT rates.

Currently member states are limited on what goods and services they can apply a reduced rate of VAT to, however if agreed these new proposals will allow member states to set reduced rates at 5% or zero on a broader range of goods and services.

If agreed, these new rules will likely be introduced during 2022 and would allow member states to implement:

  • Two separate reduced rates of between 5%, and the standard rate chosen by the Member States
  • One exemption from VAT (or ‘zero rate’); and
  • One super reduced rate set at between 0% and the reduced rates chosen by the Member State.


The press release of the Commission on the proposal can be found here while an informative Q&A sheet can be found here.

LATEST NEWS

EU council struggles to agree on the removal of the...

The EU is struggling to finalise changes to its Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) system as part of the 2028 Customs Reforms, with member states divided over plans...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

Austria proposes a €2 customs charge on a per parcel...

Austria is proposing to impose a €2 charge on e-commerce low-value imports (under €150) entering Austria from outside the European Union from October...

SEE MORE
VAT news
LATEST NEWS

Grenada to introduce VAT on foreign digital services

At the end of April 2026, Grenada introduced its new Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2026, which will extend its VAT system to include digital services...

SEE MORE
VAT news

Gated Content

The following email providers are not accepted: gmail, hotmail, yahoo. Please use proper company email.