European Union
In European Union (EU) the European Union Value Added Tax ("EU VAT") allows merchants to charge VAT on the sale of goods when they sell goods to another member state.
Figures released in September 2006 by Eurocanet, a project sponsored by the European Commission, appear to show that the United Kingdom is the main victim of this fraud – the UK lost an estimated €12.6 billion during 2005–6 – followed by Spain and Italy, which each lost over €2 billion. From 1 June 2007, the UK is introducing changes to the way that VAT is charged on mobile phones and computer chips to help combat fraud. UK plans to introduce changes to the way VAT is charged on a wide range of goods from December 2006 were aborted because of failure to reach an agreement with other EU member states.
Read more about this topic: Missing Trader Fraud
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