Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Deighton on 26 November (WS 37) concerning the meeting of ECOFIN on 7 November, whether they will give details of the proposed directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT; and what will be the likely effect of the amendment on the United Kingdom.

Details of the proposed Directive are set out in the Explanatory Memorandum 15337/13: “Standard VAT Return” deposited in the Houses of Parliament by the XST in November 2013. The UK’s current VAT return and associated procedures are supported by businesses. As the Office for Tax Simplification said in its recent report –Review of the Competitiveness of the UK Tax Administration – “The UK’s VAT return always wins praise for simplicity…”. The Government is committed to retaining that simplicity and continues to press for that in the EU. Negotiations on the proposed Directive are still continuing.