Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-13-Speech-4-032-000"

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"en.20111013.3.4-032-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, my thanks go to the rapporteur, Mr Casa, for this balanced report representing Parliament’s strong position on the reform of the value-added tax system, which has been in preparation for a long time now. The great extent to which standard tax rates in the Member States vary, and the many types of VAT exemptions and threshold values that apply, have led to the distortion of competition in certain sectors and have harmed the development of a viable internal market. A system that has been in effect for 17 years now requires a more thorough overhaul. It is especially important to reform the system now, in the midst of the economic crisis. Tax evasion and tax fraud eat into the tax base and leave honest citizens and companies to pay the taxes that have been avoided by the perpetrators of fraud. The report stresses the importance of cooperation between the tax administrations of the Member States and urges the Commission to develop a coordinated strategy to fight fiscal fraud. The so-called Green VAT strategy contained in this report, however, gives rise to a few questions. I hope that the specifics can be worked out without more problems arising. In future, it should be possible to ease the administrative burden associated with VAT and make reporting as easy as possible for small and medium-sized enterprises. It is to be hoped that a new system would take better account of the position of labour-intensive sectors, such as the craft industries. Value-added tax can easily become an additional tax on work when the end product hardly allows for the possibility of reducing material costs. The Member States also have different tax practices relating to charitable and not-for-profit organisations. The report expresses a desire to see Member States strengthening civil society by exempting these from value-added tax wherever appropriate. I hope that this practice will also be adopted in the Member States."@en1
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