Agreement between the EU and Norway on administrative cooperation in the field of value added tax (VAT)

KEY POINTS

The agreement provides for:

• information sharing to help the correct assessment and application of VAT and to tackle fraud;
• recovery of VAT claims, including any administrative penalties, fines, fees, surcharges, interest and costs linked to the claims.

Member States and Norway will:

• establish:
  • an authority responsible for applying the agreement,
  • two central liaison offices: one for administrative cooperation, the other for recovering VAT revenue;
• treat information they receive as confidential, but may:
  • disclose it to individuals and authorities applying VAT laws,
  • use it for assessment and enforcement, including recovery and precautionary measures with regard to other taxes and compulsory social security contributions, and applying administrative or criminal sanctions;
• accept other officials on their premises for information sharing and to attend administrative enquiries as observers;
• agree to carry out simultaneous controls when these are considered more effective than individual ones;
• provide the Joint Committee (see below for further details about the committee) with annual statistical data by 30 June.

The Member States and Norway will provide information using a standard form. They may also ask for feedback:

• on request from another authority, normally within three months, or one month if they already have it;
• spontaneously where:
  • the information they hold is essential for another authority to apply its tax system effectively;
  • they believe VAT fraud has taken place, or is likely to take place, in another country;
  • there is a risk of tax loss in the other country;
• automatically for categories determined by the Joint Committee.

The Member States and Norway may refuse to provide information if:

• this would impose new obligations on people liable for VAT;
• this would place a disproportionate burden on their administration;
• this would lead to the disclosure of a commercial, industrial or professional secret or of information that would be contrary to public policy;
• the requesting authority has not exhausted its usual sources of information.

The Member States and Norway will help each other to recover VAT claims by:

• providing relevant information;
• carrying out necessary administrative enquiries;
• allowing a partner’s officials to be present in their offices, administrative enquiries and court proceedings;
• notifying addressees of all documents forwarded by another authority;
• recovering a claim subject to an enforcement order or taking any necessary precautionary measures.

The Member States and Norway may:

• suspend the requested enforcement procedures immediately if the claim is challenged in the applicant country;
• refuse to meet the request if the claim:
  • would create serious economic or social difficulties in their jurisdiction,
  • is more than 5 years old, or 10 years under certain conditions,
  • is below €1 500.

Disputes over a country’s initial claim and enforcement order are handled within its jurisdiction, those over the way another country complies with that request are handled by its legal system.

The agreement enables Norway to participate in Eurofisc, a network of tax administration anti-fraud experts. Under the amending agreement, the Member States and Norway are able to coordinate participating countries’ administrative enquiries of fraud identified by Eurofisc liaison officials.

The agreement creates a Joint Committee of representatives of the EU and Norway to ensure its proper functioning and implementation. This committee:

• makes recommendations and adopts decisions;
• decides on new categories for automatic information exchange;
• establishes various practical arrangements;
• takes decisions by unanimity;
• meets at least once every two years;
• handles any disputes on interpretation or application.

The amending agreement:

• offers the possibility to carry out joint administrative enquiries (joint audits); officials from one country would be allowed to be present during audits carried out by another country’s officials and to jointly participate in audits;
• updates the original agreement with a reference to the national rules adopted under point 5e of Annex XI to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of personal data and clarifies that the Joint Committee is not consulted for disputes in the area of personal data protection rules referred to under point 5e of Annex XI to the EEA Agreement.

The agreement is valid indefinitely. It may be terminated six months after either party notifies in writing its intention to do so.