Implementing decision 2018/486 - Authorisation of Hungary to derogate from Article 193 of the VAT Directive - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 81/15

Pursuant to Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC, any taxable person carrying out a taxable supply of goods or services, as a general rule, is liable for the payment of value added tax (VAT) to the tax authorities.

In order to combat VAT fraud in the sector of temporary employment agencies, in 2014 Hungary requested authorisation to introduce a special measure derogating from Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC to provide that, for supplies of staff engaged in activities other than those covered by point (a) of Article 199(1) of that Directive, the person liable for payment of VAT is the taxable person to whom the supplies are made (‘reverse charge mechanism’). The authorisation was granted by Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/2349 (2) and expired on 31 December 2017.

By letter registered with the Commission on 26 June 2017, Hungary has requested authorisation to apply a special measure derogating from Article 193 of Directive 2006/112/EC in order to make the recipient liable for the payment of VAT for the supply of staff.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 395(2) of Directive 2006/112/EC, by letter dated 11 December 2017, the Commission transmitted the request submitted by Hungary to the other Member States. By letter dated 12 December 2017, the Commission notified Hungary that it had all the information necessary to consider the request.

According to information provided by Hungary, a number of traders in the sector of temporary employment agencies engage in fraudulent activities by supplying services without paying the applicable VAT to the tax authorities. Since this type of activity does not necessarily require large input costs or investments, the VAT these agencies receive often exceeds largely the deductible VAT they have paid to their suppliers. A number of these agencies, which often have little or no assets, subsequently disappear after only a few months, making the recovery of unpaid VAT difficult or impossible.

By designating the person to whom such services are supplied as the person liable for the payment of VAT in such cases, the derogation would eliminate the opportunity to engage in that form of tax evasion. Hungary submitted that after the introduction of the reverse charge mechanism for the supply of staff in Hungary, the number of employment agencies decreased, suggesting a cleansing of the market. According to Hungary, the reverse charge mechanism has proven to be an appropriate and effective tool in combating fraudulent practices in the temporary employment agencies sector.

Based on information provided by Hungary, a significant number of measures were introduced to combat VAT fraud, and other anti-fraud measures with particular focus on temporary employment agencies are planned by Hungary. Notwithstanding those measures, Hungary considers that, to further reduce the damage done to the sector, the protective reverse charge mechanism should continue to apply.

For a number of situations involving the supply of staff, listed in point (a) of Article 199(1) of Directive 2006/112/EC, it is...