The European Union’s Value Added Tax Committee, on 5 May 2025, released the non-public minutes of its 126th meeting from 21 March 2025. This session focused solely on implementing the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package adopted by the Council of the EU on 11 March 2025.

The Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 for the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) Package took effect on 14 April 2025, 20 days after its publication in the EU’s Official Journal.

As outlined in the agenda, the discussion covered the following key issues and topics:

Electronic invoicing rules: 

The Commission services presented the Working Paper No. 1102 on the amendments to Articles 218 and 232 of the VAT Directive related to electronic invoicing, applicable from the twentieth day following the publication in the Official Journal of the EU of the ViDA Directive. The objective of the paper was to ensure a common understanding of the possibilities given to Member States in the field of electronic invoicing by the amendments made to these Articles. In that regard, the Commission services explained (i) the transactions that can be subject to mandatory electronic invoicing, (ii) the taxpayers that can fall under the scope of the obligation, and (iii) the impact on reporting systems and the interaction with the rules applicable from 1 July 2030.

IOSS

The Commission services presented the Working Paper No. 1103 on the amendments to Article 17(1), point (e) of the Administrative Cooperation Regulation, applicable from the twentieth day following the publication in the Official Journal of the EU of the ViDA package, related to measures to improve the Import One-Stop Shop scheme (IOSS) by ensuring that the IOSS monthly reports include a breakdown of data on the total value of the goods imported under the IOSS per Member State of consumption, which means that the data provided in these reports will reflect the final destination of the goods, enabling tax administrations to conduct more precise audits.

Regarding the agenda, several delegations voiced concerns on this issue, highlighting the following points:

  • Several delegations expressed concerns regarding the use of the Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number as a reference point for determining the Member State of consumption and asked for clarifications on the reason for using it. These delegations stressed that since an EORI number is (almost) always attributed only to economic operators, it cannot be used when the importer is a final consumer.
  • Two delegations also referred to the possibility for transaction-by-transaction checks and comparison in the Surveillance system. In reply, the Commission services indicated that, given the millions of transactions involved, it is not currently possible to use transaction-by-transaction data for checking and comparing values of the goods imported under the IOSS.
  • One delegation indicated that static reports regarding data on IOSS transactions are now available per Member States of identification but should also be available per Member States of consumption. In reply, the Commission services confirmed that having static reports per Member States of consumption is indeed what is planned.
  • Another delegation considered it useful and inquired about the possibility to extend to 12 months the filter of the monthly data both per Member State of identification and Member State of consumption. In reply, the Commission services mentioned that this could be checked with the IT experts.

Finally, the Commission services briefly informed the delegations of the work currently ongoing to secure the IOSS number against certain forms of tax evasion or avoidance, and noted that a detailed update will be provided during the meeting of the Group on the Future of VAT to take place on 28 March 2025.