NTO Webinar on Tackling Cross-Border VAT Fraud

Value Added Tax (VAT) is a form of indirect tax levied on goods and services by more than 170 countries. Often, VAT constitutes an important pillar of government revenue. However, the interconnectedness of national economies has contributed to increasing avenues for avoiding and evading VAT obligations.

There are several varieties of VAT fraud. However, these frauds are groupable into two broad categories. The first category is the classic underreporting of VAT obligations to the government. The second variety of VAT-based fraud often involves organised complex chains of interconnected transactions and economic agents across national boundaries. These economic agents exploit the weakness of VAT systems across trade jurisdictions with the primary aim of defrauding governments of tax revenue. For instance, missing trader intra-community fraud-a variety of cross-border VAT fraud accounts for about EUR 60 billion yearly loss in revenue to European Union (EU) member states.

On 27 October 2022, the Network of Tax Organisations will hold a webinar on “Tackling Cross-Border VAT Fraud”. Through real-world case presentations, representatives from the General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFIP) of France and the South African Revenue Services will provide insights into the patterns of cross-border fraud and mechanisms for tackling its. In addition, the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) will provide further highlights on cross-border VAT fraud from the perspective of a regional tax organisation. Please find the concept note and programme of the event. Here is the French and Spanish version of the concept note.

For more information, please get in touch with secretariat @taxcompact.net