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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Missing Trader Fraud in the EU

Jakobsson, Oscar LU (2013) JURM02 20131
Department of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Nollbeskattningen av gemenskapsinterna förvärv i kombination med uppskjuten betalning av moms har möjliggjort karusellbedrägeri med moms på den EU-interna marknaden. Följaktligen har medlemsstaterna drabbas av utebliven moms som inte redovisas av ”missing traders”, samtidigt som den oskyldige affärspartnern till en ”missing trader” behåller sin rätt att återfå moms, vilket skapar en förlust för staten i fråga som får betala tillbaka moms som aldrig inkommit. Dessutom kan en momskarusell i teorin snurra oändligt många gånger och när en karusell upptäcks har personerna bakom företaget som begår bedrägeriet oftast sedan länge försvunnit.
Medlemsstaterna har försökt stoppa sina momsförluster genom att vända sig mot den oskyldige parten i... (More)
Nollbeskattningen av gemenskapsinterna förvärv i kombination med uppskjuten betalning av moms har möjliggjort karusellbedrägeri med moms på den EU-interna marknaden. Följaktligen har medlemsstaterna drabbas av utebliven moms som inte redovisas av ”missing traders”, samtidigt som den oskyldige affärspartnern till en ”missing trader” behåller sin rätt att återfå moms, vilket skapar en förlust för staten i fråga som får betala tillbaka moms som aldrig inkommit. Dessutom kan en momskarusell i teorin snurra oändligt många gånger och när en karusell upptäcks har personerna bakom företaget som begår bedrägeriet oftast sedan länge försvunnit.
Medlemsstaterna har försökt stoppa sina momsförluster genom att vända sig mot den oskyldige parten i transaktionskedjan, med avsikt att hålla denne ansvarig för den uteblivna momsen. Detta har dock EU-domstolen satt stopp för vid ett antal tillfällen. Domstolen har nämligen genom sina avgöranden skyddat den oskyldige parten som varit i god tro och därmed upprätthållit de grundläggande rättsprinciperna, främst principerna om rättssäkerhet och proportionalitet.
Handel med utsläppsrätter har drabbats hårt av momsbedrägeri de senaste åren, mestadels med anledning av det höga värdet på utsläppsrätterna och det höga tempot med vilket handel på onlinebörser sker. EU har den senaste tiden implementerat temporära lösningar för att stoppa bedrägeri på nämnda marknad, men problemet med momsbedrägeri i stort kvarstår.
På grund av de politiska komplikationerna med att skapa en helt harmoniserad intern marknad inom EU, vilket annars är det mest effektiva sättet att stoppa bedrägeri med momskaruseller inom Unionen, så debatteras och undersöks andra lösningar inom hela EU.
Den mest realistiska lösningen är momsbetalning i realtid, vilket innebär att momsen genom tekniska lösningar betalas samtidigt som en transaktion genomförs. På så sätt slipper företag hantera moms, skattemyndigheten mottar momsen direkt och eftersom ingen moms är i händerna på någon annan än kompetent myndighet är möjligheterna till bedrägeri utraderade. (Less)
Abstract
The zero-rating of intra-Community acquisitions in combination with the deferred payment of VAT has made it possible to employ carousel fraud with VAT on the internal EU market. Not only are the tax authorities in the different Member States losing out on VAT that is not accounted for by missing traders, but the innocent parties in business with the missing traders retain a right to refund VAT, leaving the tax authority with a loss when refunding VAT that was never collected. Moreover, the carousel can theoretically keep turning an infinite amount of times and when a carousel is discovered, the people behind the company committing fraud are usually long gone.
Member States have been trying to stop the loss of VAT by turning on the... (More)
The zero-rating of intra-Community acquisitions in combination with the deferred payment of VAT has made it possible to employ carousel fraud with VAT on the internal EU market. Not only are the tax authorities in the different Member States losing out on VAT that is not accounted for by missing traders, but the innocent parties in business with the missing traders retain a right to refund VAT, leaving the tax authority with a loss when refunding VAT that was never collected. Moreover, the carousel can theoretically keep turning an infinite amount of times and when a carousel is discovered, the people behind the company committing fraud are usually long gone.
Member States have been trying to stop the loss of VAT by turning on the innocent party of the business chain, intending to hold them liable for the missing VAT. However, this has been stopped by the ECJ on a number of occasions, as the Court in its judgments has protected the innocent party in good faith and thus upholding the fundamental principles of law, primarily the principles of legal certainty and proportionality.
The market for emission rights trading has been the primary target for VAT fraud in the last few years, mainly due to the high value of the emission rights and the fast pace of the trading on online exchange bourses. The EU has of late implemented temporary solutions in order to hinder the fraud on this market, yet the issue of VAT fraud as a whole remains to be solved.
Due to the political complications of creating a completely harmonised internal market within the EU, the otherwise most effective way of ending the VAT carousel fraud within the Union, other solutions are debated and investigated throughout the EU.
The most prominent idea is real-time VAT collection, using technological solutions to collect VAT right when a purchase is concluded. That way, companies are relieved of the VAT compliance burden, the tax authority will receive VAT right away and since no VAT is ever in the hands of anyone else than the competent authority, fraud is effectively stopped. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jakobsson, Oscar LU
supervisor
organization
course
JURM02 20131
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Skatterätt, EU-rätt, EU law, VAT, Moms, VAT Fraud, Momsbedrägeri, Missing Trader Fraud
language
English
id
3957871
date added to LUP
2013-09-03 08:45:27
date last changed
2013-09-03 08:45:27
@misc{3957871,
  abstract     = {{The zero-rating of intra-Community acquisitions in combination with the deferred payment of VAT has made it possible to employ carousel fraud with VAT on the internal EU market. Not only are the tax authorities in the different Member States losing out on VAT that is not accounted for by missing traders, but the innocent parties in business with the missing traders retain a right to refund VAT, leaving the tax authority with a loss when refunding VAT that was never collected. Moreover, the carousel can theoretically keep turning an infinite amount of times and when a carousel is discovered, the people behind the company committing fraud are usually long gone.
Member States have been trying to stop the loss of VAT by turning on the innocent party of the business chain, intending to hold them liable for the missing VAT. However, this has been stopped by the ECJ on a number of occasions, as the Court in its judgments has protected the innocent party in good faith and thus upholding the fundamental principles of law, primarily the principles of legal certainty and proportionality.
The market for emission rights trading has been the primary target for VAT fraud in the last few years, mainly due to the high value of the emission rights and the fast pace of the trading on online exchange bourses. The EU has of late implemented temporary solutions in order to hinder the fraud on this market, yet the issue of VAT fraud as a whole remains to be solved.
Due to the political complications of creating a completely harmonised internal market within the EU, the otherwise most effective way of ending the VAT carousel fraud within the Union, other solutions are debated and investigated throughout the EU.
The most prominent idea is real-time VAT collection, using technological solutions to collect VAT right when a purchase is concluded. That way, companies are relieved of the VAT compliance burden, the tax authority will receive VAT right away and since no VAT is ever in the hands of anyone else than the competent authority, fraud is effectively stopped.}},
  author       = {{Jakobsson, Oscar}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Missing Trader Fraud in the EU}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}