IOTA Forum on Combating VAT Fraud “Cross-border VAT Fraud Cases: Identifying Risks and Using Data”

The 3-day event focused on identifying new VAT fraud trends in goods, services, and intangibles, as well as real cross-border VAT fraud cases. There was a particular emphasis on risk identification techniques and the use of data in combating fraud. The forum featured speakers from various IOTA member tax administrations, including Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Serbia, and Spain. Throughout the conference, participants had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and expertise on real VAT fraud cases where risk identification techniques and the use of data are crucial.

Raffaello Pietropaolo, Vice Director of the Swiss Federal Tax Administration and Head of the Main Value Added Tax Division set the stage for the meeting by delivering welcome remarks. This was followed by interventions from guest speakers of our international partner organisations, who shared insights on the following topics:

• OECD – Collecting, managing, and exchanging information and data: a challenge for tax administrations presented by Stéphane Buydens;
• EU Commission, TAXUD – Developments in the EU regulatory framework for the fight against VAT fraud presented by Manuel Gonzalez;
• EU Commission, OLAF – The role of OLAF in tackling VAT fraud presented by Dan Baicu;
• European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) – VAT-Based Money Laundering: Fighting the Organised-Crime behind VAT fraud through a data-drive approach presented by Nelson Macedo Da Cruz.

The second plenary session of the Forum explored new VAT fraud trends in goods, services, and intangibles. This session was fully covered by Denmark with presentations from Ann-Katrin Tønnesen on ‘Cross-border VAT fraud using Remote Trader’, and Jesper Albert on ‘Suspected fraud by concealing taxable activities when trading via a platform’.

The subsequent plenaries on the second day started with a Subgroup presentation on an IOTA Project about 'The use of Alternative Payment Systems in cross-border VAT fraud schemes'. This Preliminary Report on the Project was delivered by the members of the Subgroup including Matt Barraclough, So Young Kim, Pieter Vercruysse, and Pascal Beaujeant.

Afterward, the Forum brought new knowledge onto the stage and showcased presentations from the IOTA member countries of Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Serbia, and Spain, as well as an invited guest speaker from Europol. These interventions discussed various real cross-border VAT fraud cases in the car trade and the alcoholic beverages market, risk identification techniques, and the use of data analysis tools in the fight against VAT fraud.

• France – Using data to fight fraud presented by Cédric Dufourt;
• Austria – Risk identification technics - Austrian Risk Evaluation Database presented by Wolfgang Kolar;
• Germany – Obtaining the full picture of a network – more than just taxation data presented by Martin Bruns;
• Norway – Norwegian case and risk analysis of VAT fraud on Alcohol presented by So Young Kim;
• Finland – VAT frauds in car trade presented by Jussi Arkela;
• Serbia – Tax fraud when importing used vehicles from EU countries presented by Bojana Nozica;

 On the third day:

• Italy – A cross-border VAT fraud case’s follow up and future perspectives in international cooperation co-presented by Vanessa Bianchi & Andrea Damiani;
• Spain – Tax fraud: how to avoid it working together presented by Mercedes Rosa;
• Europol – Enhancing Financial Intelligence on VAT investigations presented by Bruno Freitas (joined online).

Throughout the event, Forum participants had the opportunity to discuss the presented cases and issues in smaller breakout sessions to share their views, ideas, and experiences on the Forum topic "Cross-border VAT fraud cases: identifying risks and using data." After the plenaries, attendees engaged in an open debate to share lessons learned and discuss the main benefits of the 3-day technical activity.

 All materials, presentations, and photos are now available online, and the event recording will soon be uploaded to the event's webpage. The Forum was led by the IOTA International Taxation Expert Massimo Morarelli with support from his colleague Ivana Donchevska. IOTA is grateful to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration for their wonderful hospitality and excellent collaboration on this event.