First Year Experience of the Abolition of the €22 Rule and the Introduction of the New e-Commerce Vat Laws

Abstract

The abolition of VAT exemption regarding negligible consignments has raised a variety of tax and customs management issues in terms of budget revenues both on the EU and domestic fronts. The abolition of VAT exemption below €22 in July 2021 has brought upon a completely new situation in the customs management of e-commerce from non-member countries to the EU. A review of the achievements and challenges of the past year, which also underpins the timeliness of our study, can contribute to further refinement and clarification of the system. The main focus of this research is to explore the customs experience with the new VAT regime for B2C e-commerce from third countries into the customs territory of the European Union, introduced from 1 July 2021, to identify the problems encountered in the past period and possible solutions. The article will use statistical data collected from the National Tax and Customs Administration to explore the characteristics of the past year and the main trends in turnover, and to identify the challenges and the solutions authorities can provide to them.

The abolition of VAT exemption regarding negligible consignments has raised a variety of tax and customs management issues in terms of budget revenues both on the EU and domestic fronts. The abolition of VAT exemption below €22 in July 2021 has brought upon a completely new situation in the customs management of e-commerce from non-member countries to the EU. A review of the achievements and challenges of the past year, which also underpins the timeliness of our study, can contribute to further refinement and clarification of the system. The main focus of this research is to explore the customs experience with the new VAT regime for B2C e-commerce from third countries into the customs territory of the European Union, introduced from 1 July 2021, to identify the problems encountered in the past period and possible solutions. The article will use statistical data collected from the National Tax and Customs Administration to explore the characteristics of the past year and the main trends in turnover, and to identify the challenges and the solutions authorities can provide to them.