On Facilitating Cross-Border E-Commerce Through an Automated VAT Declaration System

Abstract

While cross-border e-commerce aims at efficiency and speed, the area still faces problems that make crossing borders slow and administratively burdensome. The current paper looks into the problems cited by companies, tax boards, customers and other relevant stakeholders in VAT declarations in cross-border e-commerce and aims to solve them through creating an automated VAT declaration system in cooperation with various e-commerce platforms and aimed at non-EU small-and medium-sized enterprises. The paper defines the problems in todays system through analyzing of EU documents and interviews conducted with relevant stakeholders, and looks into the new legal VAT reform that will enable companies to declare their VAT in only one chosen EU Member State.