By Sally Watson, 22 June 2000 13:20
NEWS European Commission proposals to charge value added tax (VAT) on goods and services supplied over the Internet from outside Europe have been criticised this week by the Institute of Directors (IoD). According to the IoD, the proposals are logical but will be difficult to enforce. It is warning the change in legislation will lead most non-EU suppliers to register for VAT in Luxembourg, which charges the lowest rate of VAT at 15 per cent. In order to avoid this the EC will need to make further changes to the legislation to ensure revenues are equally shared between all 14 member states. Richard Baron, deputy head of the IoD's policy unit, said in a statement; "The European Commission has had a good stab at the problem, but it has not resolved all of the issues. Sadly it has skated over some of the harder questions. Tax authorities must face their limitations squarely if we are to get sensible decisions." Baron added that legislators will be left behind by the pace of developing technology.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below