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In the limelight

eLEARNING: New course on Drug Precursor Control for businesses

A new course on drug precursor control has been developed by the European Commission in close collaboration with Member States and the chemical industry. It aims to help the industry recognise the risks of illicit trade in drug precursors and is one of a series of Commission developed eLearning customs and tax courses. Information on how to obtain the course is available from our website.

In the limelight

eLEARNING: New course on the VAT Directive

A new course on the EU VAT Directive developed by the European Commission is now freely available on line. The course, designed to help tax officials, businesses and others understand the fundamental principles of the Directive (No 2006/112/EC), is the first EU eLearning instrument focused on taxation. It can be downloaded from our website.

What's new?  
20/11/2009

IP/09/1790 - State aid: Commission requests Spain to comply with Court judgment on recovery of incompatible aid under company tax schemes

20/11/2009

IP/09/1770 - Direct taxation: The Commission requests Belgium to change its legislation implementing the Parent-Subsidiary Directive

20/11/2009

IP/09/1769 - Taxation of interest and royalties: Commission takes steps against Lithuania

20/11/2009

IP/09/1768 - VAT: The Commission tackles 8 Member States over the application of the VAT grouping rules

20/11/2009

IP/09/1767 - VAT: European Commission asks France to change its legislation on building land

20/11/2009

IP/09/1766 - Manufactured tobacco: Commission asks France to abolish its strict quantitative limits on private individuals' tobacco purchases in other Member States

20/11/2009

IP/09/1765 - Car taxation: The European Commission asks France to change a discriminatory aspect of its legislation relating to the 'malus tax' for second-hand vehicles imported from other Member States

20/11/2009

IP/09/1764 - Direct taxation: The European Commission has asked France to abolish tax discrimination against foreign public-interest and not-for-profit bodies.

17/11/2009

The Sardinian regional tax on touristic stopovers by aircraft and boats infringes EU law, says ECJ

For more information see the European Court's press release No 101/09.

13/11/2009

Conference: 'What taxation for a low carbon economy?', 30/11/2009

Registration deadline extended to 16 November 2009.

10/11/2009

Economic and Finance Ministers Council agrees reform of excise duties on cigarettes and other tobacco products

For further information see the Council press release PDF document English.

09/11/2009

MEMO/09/494 - Preparation of Eurogroup and Economic and Finance Ministers Council, Brussels, 9 and 10 November 2009

The agenda includes Administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and Rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco

09/11/2009

Customs: Final Declaration of 8th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Customs Directors General/Commissioners Meeting now available

For further information see our web page.

05/11/2009

Conference: 'What taxation for a low carbon economy?', 30/11/2009

Final programme PDF document DeutschEnglishfrançais and list of speakers PDF document English available. Registration deadline: 12 November 2009.

03/11/2009

Customs: European Commission publishes the 2010 version of the Combined Nomenclature

See See EU Official Journal

30/10/2009

IP/09/1657 - State aid: Commission closes investigation into Hungarian intra-group interest taxation

30/10/2009

IP/09/1655 - Fight against tax fraud: Commission publishes a study on the VAT gap in the EU

For more information see the study PDF document English

29/10/2009

IP/09/1629 - State aid: Commission authorises Danish NO X tax reduction for cement industry; opens in-depth investigation into waste tax exemption

29/10/2009

IP/09/1645 - VAT: Commission launches infringement proceedings against Poland concerning the refund of VAT to non-established taxable persons

29/10/2009

IP/09/1644 - VAT: The Commission tackles the Netherlands over its exemption for fundraising activities

29/10/2009

IP/09/1643 - Car taxation: The European Commission calls on Hungary to change its legislation on car registration tax

29/10/2009

IP/09/1642 - VAT: The European Commission asks France to bring its tax representative ('répondant fiscal') provision into line with the VAT Directive (Directive 2006/112/EC)

29/10/2009

IP/09/1641 - VAT: The European Commission calls on Greece to apply a uniform VAT rate to the provision of bowling facilities

29/10/2009

IP/09/1640 - Taxation of outbound dividend and interest payments to foreign pension institutions: Commission takes steps against Germany

29/10/2009

IP/09/1638 - VAT: Commission pursues infringement proceedings against Austria on the exclusion of the right to deduct input tax with regard to construction costs for mixed use buildings

29/10/2009

IP/09/1637 - Direct taxes: The European Commission refers Austria to the European Court of Justice over discriminatory tax provisions in the field of science and research

29/10/2009

IP/09/1636 - Direct Taxation: The European Commission refers Estonia to the Court of Justice over its discriminatory taxation of non-residents' pensions

29/10/2009

IP/09/1635 - Direct taxation: The European Commission requests Portugal to amend restrictive exit tax provisions for individuals

28/10/2009

IP/09/1604 - State aid: Commission authorises implementation of an urban free zone scheme in Italy

28/10/2009

IP/09/1601 - State aid: Commission requires Spain to abolish tax scheme favouring acquisitions of other European companies

03/11/2009

Meeting between the European Commission, customs experts from the EU Member States and representatives of the European pharmaceutical sector

The Joint Statement PDF document Englishis also available from our web page.

23/10/2009

Cash controls: New animation available from our website

See the playable version and the downloadable versions for TV or websites.

22/10/2009

Customs 2013 and Fiscalis 2013 co-operation programmes in a new light

See the revamped Customs and Fiscalis sections of our website.

21/10/2009

EU Council discussed anti-fraud agreements with third countries and adopted two decisions on VAT derogations

For further information see the Council press release PDF document English (pages 11 and 13).

20/10/2009

EU Council adopted two Directives codifying existing text on taxation of mergers and cases of VAT exemption

For further information and the texts see the Council press release PDF document English (page 25).

19/10/2009

IP/09/1543 - Securities income: Commission recommends simplified procedures for claiming cross-border withholding tax relief

See also the frequently asked questions (MEMO/09/462), the Recommendation (C/2009/7924 PDF document DeutschEnglishfrançais) and the study PDF document Englishby Commission services.

19/10/2009

MEMO/09/461 - Preparation of Eurogroup and Informal Economic and Finance Ministers Council, Luxembourg, 19 and 20 October 2009

Anti-fraud agreements with Liechtenstein and other third countries are on the agenda.

15/10/2009

Conference 'What taxation for a low carbon economy?' - Brussels, 30 November 2009

See our website for details. Registration is open (Updated link).

15/10/2009

IP/09/1523 - EU and South Korea initial free trade deal

See also MEMO/09/452 on the Free Trade Agreement.

14/10/2009

IP/09/1515 - State aid: Commission endorses Finnish temporary tax incentives for productive investment

08/10/2009

IP/09/1463 - VAT refunds: the European Commission calls on Hungary to change its VAT reimbursement rules

08/10/2009

IP/09/1461 - Corporate taxation: Commission refers the United Kingdom to the European Court of Justice over improper implementation of an ECJ ruling on cross-border loss relief

08/10/2009

IP/09/1460 - Direct taxation: The European Commission refers Spain and Portugal to the European Court of Justice over restrictive provisions on exit tax

08/10/2009

IP/09/1459 - Reduced rate of VAT on horses: the European Commission refers Austria, France, Germany and Luxembourg to the Court of Justice

08/10/2009

IP/09/1457 - VAT: Commission requires Greece to ensure in its legislation the refund of unduly paid VAT and other taxes

08/10/2009

IP/09/1456 - VAT: Commission takes steps against Spain as regards the application of the travel agents' scheme

08/10/2009

IP/09/1455 - VAT - The European Commission refers Austria to the European Court of Justice for the inclusion of car registration tax in the taxable base on which VAT is calculated for road vehicle supplies

08/10/2009

IP/09/1495 - VAT: super-reduced rate for the first performances of a work: the European Commission launches the second stage of infringement proceedings against France

08/10/2009

IP/09/1453 - VAT - Commission pursues infringement proceedings against Finland and Austria on the application of certain exemptions

08/10/2009

IP/09/1452 - Direct taxation: the Commission asks Belgium to amend its discriminatory legislation on accounts keepers/settlement institutions and investment funds

07/10/2009

Customs: European Commission launches eLearning course on Drug Precursor Control for businesses

For further information and details of how to obtain the course, see our web page.

05/10/2009

IP/09/1410 - EU and Uruguay settle complaint over taxation of imported spirits

01/10/2009

IP/09/1449 - State aid: Commission partly authorises German tax law on risk capital, subject to amendments

30/09/2009

MEMO/09/425 - Preparation of Eurogroup and Informal Economic and Finance Ministers Council, Göteborg (Sweden), 1 and 2 October 2009

European Commissioner Kovács will intervene on cost-efficient use of economic instruments, such as taxation, in climate policy.

30/09/2009

IP/09/1390 - State aid: Commission approves €2.4 billion regional tax credit scheme for new investment in Sicily

29/09/2009

IP/09/1376 - Fight against tax fraud: Commission proposes measures for a consistent response to carousel fraud in certain sectors

For more information see frequently asked questions (MEMO/09/423) and the Commission proposal (COM/2009/511 PDF document DeutschEnglishfrançais).

24/09/2009

Customs experts from all six major semiconductor producing economies, including the EU, reaffirmed their commitment to protect and enforce intellectual property rights

See the report PDF document English 'Semiconductor producers address counterfeiting'.

24/09/2009

'Tax incentives for education and training' Conference: Presentations and speeches now available online

See our web page. The list of speakers PDF document English with CVs is also online.

23/09/2009

European Commissioner László Kovács concludes his visit to Russia on customs cooperation

For more information see the press release PDF document English

22/09/2009

Conference on tax incentives for education and training

For more information see the press release PDF document English, the press notice (5th item) and our website.

17/09/2009

European Commission and Japan hold the 2nd Joint Customs Co-operation Committee

For more information see the joint press release PDF document English

14/09/2009

Consolidated version of Community Customs Code's implementing provisions (updated to 1 July 2009) now available online

See the document and further information on the Community Customs Code and its implementing provisions on our web page. This consolidated version does not yet include the amendments resulting from Commission Regulation (EC) No 414/2009.

14/09/2009

IP/09/1312 - Company taxation: The European Commission proposes a revised Code of Conduct for applying the Arbitration Convention to improve prevention of double taxation

For further information see the Commission's proposal (COM/2009/472 PDF document DeutschEnglishfrançais) the final report PDF document and the summary report PDF document on penalties.

09/09/2009

EU Court of First Instance upholds Commission decisions considering certain Basque tax relief measures to be State aid incompatible with the common market

For more information see the Court's press release No 73/09.

04/09/2009

Fight against tax fraud: European Commission publishes report on mutual assistance between EU Member States

For more information see the press notice (3rd item) and the report PDF document DeutschEnglishfrançais(COM/2009/451).

Archive

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 Upcoming 
30/11/2009Conference 'What taxation for a low carbon economy?' Brussels
01 - 02/03/2010The Brussels Tax Forum 2010
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16/09/2009Study, data collection and comparative analysis concerning certain customs matters