EU Commission Opens Infringement Against Romania Over VAT Rules

The European Commission decided on Friday to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Portugal for failing to communicate to the Community Executive the measures for the full transposition of EU Directive 2022/542 regarding value added tax rates.

EU member states had to communicate the full transposition of the Directive into national law by 31 December 2024, the EC press release also said.

The directive allows for a wider use of reduced rates, including zero rates for essential products such as food, pharmaceuticals or those used for medical purposes.

“Member States may exempt supplies of goods and services carried out within their territory by taxable persons who are established in that territory and whose annual turnover at Member State level, relating to those supplies of goods and/or services, does not exceed the threshold set by those Member States for the application of this exemption. That threshold may not exceed EUR 85,000 or the equivalent in national currency. Member States may set different thresholds for different economic sectors, based on objective criteria. However, none of these thresholds may exceed the threshold of EUR 85,000 or the equivalent in national currency,” according to the directive.

The European Commission has therefore decided to send a letter of formal notice to the eight EU Member States to complete the transposition and notify their measures to the Community Executive. The mentioned States now have two months to respond to the EC’s requests. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the European Commission could decide to issue a reasoned opinion.