On June 27, 2024 the Dutch Minister of Finance sent the Dutch Parliament a report/summary of the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council that took place on June 21, 2024. This summary once againn gives an interesting insight in the discussions that took place regarding the value added tax (VAT) in the digital age (VIDA) package.

With respect to the discussion that took place regarding the VIDA package the Dutch Minister of Finance noted the following in his summary:

“Once again no agreement was reached at the meeting of the Ecofin Council on the European Commission’s proposal on VAT rules for the digital age (VIDA – VAT in the digital age). The aim of the Belgian presidency was to reach a council agreement on the entire package during the meeting of the Ecofin Council. This was not possible during the Council meeting of May 16, 2024 because Estonia was the only one that could not agree to a council agreement. Estonia had objections to the part of the package that concerns the platform fiction for short-term leasing of accommodations and passenger transportation.

The Belgian presidency stated that during the past month several bilateral meetings took place with different Member States to see if a compromise can be found on the part of the package that deals with the platform fiction for the short-term leasing of accommodations and passenger transportation. The Belgian Presidency subsequently indicated that Estonia is still unable to agree and that for this reason she will hand over the VIDA dossier to the incoming Hungarian Presidency. Following this, Estonia took the floor to state that the final adjustments made to the text of the Belgian Presidency did not make its objections disappear. Estonia again called for an opt-in with respect to the platform fiction for short-term leasing of accommodations and passenger transportation. This was followed by twenty interventions by Member States, including the Netherlands, expressing support for the latest compromise text of the Belgian Presidency. Some countries additionally (indirectly) indicated their openness to discuss Estonia's opt-in proposal. Finally, the incoming Hungarian Presidency indicated that it is ready to take the VIDA proposal forward.”

The full text of the summary of the meeting as prepared by the Dutch Ministry of finance can be found here. (Available in the Dutch language only).

Copyright – internationaltaxplaza.info

Follow International Tax Plaza on Twitter (@IntTaxPlaza)