Omvänd skattskyldighet - En ”quick fix” för mervärdesskattebedrägerier?

Sammanfattning: Every year, the members of the European Union lose tens of billions of euros in VAT revenue. A large part of these losses are due to widespread fraud that exploits the laws and rules governing intra-EU trade between EU Member States. One such fraud is Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) fraud. This paper examines the causes of MTIC fraud and the legislative efforts in the EU and Sweden to counteract it. Unlike national trade, where VAT is paid at each stage of the distribution chain, the taxation of goods in trade between EU countries takes place in the country where the goods or services are destined. Such an intra-EU acquisition is accounted for by the recipient in the same way as a domestic transaction and the recipient is obliged to pay VAT on the purchase. This, together with a very strong right of deduction for the parties, has made the system vulnerable. To prevent these frauds, the Union has taken several measures, one of which is the introduction of reverse charge for goods and services in sectors that have been deemed particularly vulnerable. Under the reverse charge mechanism, the seller is no longer required to collect VAT from the buyer, instead it is only charged when the goods or services reach the final consumer. In Sweden, reverse charge has been introduced for trade in several areas such as with gold and emission rights, scrap and waste, mobile phones and certain electronics. This is based on Article 199a of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax. Reverse charge has been considered an effective tool to prevent widespread VAT fraud, but it is not a universal solution as it can increase administrative costs for businesses and has been considered to have a negative impact on the internal market if too many goods and services were to be covered by it.