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Combating VAT fraud – the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation when it comes to VAT fraud and its impact on the EU budget

TA-10-2026-0350 · P10_TA(2026)0350 · PE789.092

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 21 Oct 2026

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Parliament's resolution on cross-border VAT fraud and its impact on the EU budget calls for stronger EU action against carousel fraud and import VAT fraud, better cooperation among anti-fraud bodies, and changes to the EU's anti-fraud architecture ahead of the post-2027 multiannual financial framework. It asks for EPPO and OLAF access to VAT databases, more funding and staff for anti-fraud bodies, and a lower EUR 10 million threshold under the PIF Directive. It wants the Commission's anti-fraud review to produce binding legislation revising the OLAF, EPPO, Europol and Eurojust Regulations, and a framework returning confiscated assets to the EU budget. It calls for safeguards against VAT fraud in carbon credit trading and in the VAT in the Digital Age reporting system, and for action on import VAT fraud and customs procedures.

Key points

  1. Reaffirms calls for coordinated EU action against cross-border VAT fraud, a working early-warning system for carousel fraud, and a lower EUR 10 million threshold under Article 2 of the PIF Directive.
  2. Calls for the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework to include provisions and resources to fight informal economic activity and VAT fraud, and for the Single Market and Customs Programme to support anti-fraud work.
  3. Warns that financing not linked to costs must not weaken traceability, and insists every spending programme keep a full audit trail and beneficial ownership data accessible to the EPPO, OLAF, the Court of Auditors and the discharge authority.
  4. Calls on the Commission to create a common governance framework for anti-fraud actors, a unified reporting system, more digital tools and stronger resources, and to equip the EPPO, OLAF, Eurojust and Eurofisc adequately.
  5. Welcomes the May 2026 agreement giving the EPPO and OLAF access to VAT information systems, and asks for procedural guidelines respecting the separate administrative and criminal legal frameworks.
  6. Calls for Eurofisc's transaction network analysis tool to gain AI-assisted pattern recognition, for Member States to supply data on time, and for Eurofisc to seek suspension of VAT numbers where fraud is indicated.
  7. Calls on the Commission to make DAC8 crypto-asset reporting data accessible to Eurofisc, OLAF and the EPPO, and to report by 2028 on whether that data helped identify VAT fraud proceeds.
  8. Asks for a vulnerability assessment of carousel fraud and financial crime risks in carbon credit and allowance trading under Emissions Trading System Phase 2 before it becomes operational.
  9. Calls for VAT in the Digital Age reporting data to be interoperable with Eurofisc's tool and accessible to OLAF and the EPPO, with a Commission report by 31 December 2031 on results.
  10. Calls for the anti-fraud review to lead to a binding legislative package revising the OLAF, EPPO, Europol and Eurojust Regulations, Eurofisc governance and the PIF Directive, not just coordination or guidelines.
  11. Calls for a binding framework so that assets confiscated after EPPO investigations are returned to the EU budget in full or in part and recorded as EU revenue, with reporting to Parliament.
  12. Calls for Europol to get direct access to Eurofisc data and the power to propose cross-border VAT investigations, and for Eurojust to gain dedicated coordination capacity for VAT fraud cases.

Who is affected

  • Member States' tax, customs and judicial authorities: asked to coordinate, share VAT data and strengthen cooperation through Eurofisc.
  • OLAF and the EPPO: to receive VAT data access, more funding and staff, and clearer rules on recovery and referrals.
  • Europol and Eurojust: their regulations should be revised to expand their roles in VAT fraud cases.
  • Businesses and platforms: face e-invoicing and digital reporting duties and scrutiny of import VAT and low-value shipment practices.
  • Professional enablers such as accountants, lawyers and brokers: targeted by beneficial ownership rules under the sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

Figures and deadlines

  • VAT contributed around 15 %, or EUR 23 billion, of the EU budget in 2024.
  • The 2025 VAT Gap Report estimates an EU-wide VAT compliance gap of EUR 128 billion.
  • Carousel fraud is estimated to cost the EU between EUR 12,5 billion and EUR 32,8 billion annually.
  • Revenue fraud exceeds EUR 45 billion and accounts for over 67 % of estimated damage in active EPPO investigations.
  • Organised criminal groups were responsible for 86 % of damage in organised crime cases.
  • Eurofisc identified over EUR 12 billion in fraudulent or suspicious VAT transactions in 2024.
  • The original EU Emissions Trading System saw estimated losses of approximately EUR 5 billion between 2008 and 2009.
  • Less than 1 % of reports to the EPPO originate from OLAF.

Legal basis: Articles 310(6) and 325(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union.