swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

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EUROPEAN

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Brussels, 23.12.2020

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

Contents

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

IT systems

Joint actions

Training and human competency

3.1

3.2

3.3

INTRODUCTION

Fiscalis 2020 in a nutshell

The Performance Measurement Framework

Mid-term evaluation of the programme

4.1

4.2

PROGRAMME YEAR 2019

–

BASIC PARAMETERS (ON BUDGET AND JOINT ACTIONS)

Budget

Participants in joint actions (excluding expert teams)

5.1

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Cross-cut indicators of collaboration robustness between programme stakeholders

5.2

Objective 1: implement, improve, operate and support the European Information Systems for

taxation

5.3

5.4

5.5

Objective 2: support administrative cooperation activities

Objective 3: reinforce skills and competences of taxation officials

Objective 4: enhance the understanding and implementation of Union law in the field of taxation

5.6

Objective 5: support the improvement of administrative procedures and the sharing of good

administrative practices

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME

ANNEX 1 - PRODUCTION STATUS OF THE TAXATION IT APPLICATIONS AND TRANS-EUROPEAN

SYSTEMS

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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The following acronyms are used in this document:

Abbreviation

AEOI

AFF

ART

AWP

CCN/CSI

DAC

EAF

eFCA

EIS

EMCS

FPG

F2020

MANITC

MFF

MLC

MOSS

MSW

N/A

PAOE

PICS

PMF

SEED

TEDB

TIN

TSS

TOD

VAT

ToW

VIES

VoW

Meaning

Automatic Exchange of Information

Action Follow up Form

Activity Reporting Tool

Annual Work Programme

Common Communications Network - Common Systems Interface

Directive on Administrative Cooperation

Event Assessment Form

e-Forms Central Application

European Information Systems

Excise Movement Control System

Expert team

Fiscalis Project Group

Fiscalis 2020 programme

Joint Action

Managed IT Collaboration

Multiannual Financial Framework

Multilateral Controls

Mini-One-Stop-Shop

Member State Warning

Not available

Presences in administrative offices / participation in administrative enquiries

Programmes Information and Collaboration Space

Performance Measurement Framework

System for Exchange of Excise Data

Taxes in Europe Database

Taxation Identification Number

Taxation Statistical System

Turnover Data

Value Added Tax

TIN-on-the-Web

VAT Information Exchange System

VIES-on-the-Web

swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

At EU level, the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning, and the implementation of

Union law in the field of taxation, are materialised by setting-up IT systems and other mechanisms of

cooperation, which are implemented to a large extent through the Fiscalis 2020 programme. The vast

majority of the programme funding is devoted to the implementation, improvement, operation and support to

the European Information Systems for taxation. The remaining part is used for funding the organisation of

joint actions (the cooperation and collaboration side) and the training activities.

2019 was the sixth year of activities under the Fiscalis 2020 programme and represented a continuity of

many actions of 2018. The numbers of European Information Systems (and their availability), actions, events

and participants remained at high levels, testifying to a strong demand from business owners and national

administrations for programme activities. Such strong demand has been also confirmed by the conclusions

of the mid-term evaluation of the programme .

The key observations that can be deduced from the analysis of the Performance Measurement Framework

indicators in 2019, supported by some of the conclusions of the mid-term evaluation of the programme, are

as follows:



Continued

strong demand

for programme support.

The European Information Systems are

regularly operated

and resistant to

increased volume of

data traffic.

New European Information Systems developments are largely taking place in line with the planning

thanks to the support of the programme. The systems are

regularly maintained and updated

and

the user support and training are functioning properly.

Major work was done to have the tax IT systems ready for a

withdrawal of the UK

from the EU.

Increased support from the programme, by means of

expert teams,

on different aspects of IT

collaboration.

Very positive assessment of the

achieved results

of the joint actions, their

usefulness

and met

expectations

by national tax officials who participated in them.

Increase in the degree of

networking

among programme participants.

Low awareness rate,

as shown by the results of the programme polls and by the conclusions of the

mid-term evaluation.

Remarkable increase in the number of officials trained by using EU common training material

(242%), showing the great impact of the redeveloped and updated VAT Programme for the

administrations.

IT systems



2.1.

The

European Information Systems

supported by the programme interconnect tax authorities and allow

information to be exchanged rapidly and by secure electronic means. In addition, the European Information

Systems allow the use of a common format that can be recognized by all Member States and thus facilitate

the coexistence of the different national taxation systems in the EU.

The information exchange is enabled by a closed and secure

Common Communication Network -

Common Systems Interface (CCN/CSI)

–

one of the main outcomes of the programme. The network

registered over 6 902 million messages exchanged during the period January 2019 to December 2019,

compared to 5 790 million messages exchanged during 2018 (19.2% growth of number of messages). In

terms of traffic, the CCN Network registered around 32.23 TB during the period January 2019 to December

2019, compared to around 29.08 TB during 2018 (10.8% increase of traffic volume).

https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c9c68539-33f7-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-search

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The high volume of information channelled via CCN/CSI and the other tax related IT systems (e.g.

VAT

Information Exchange System - VIES, Excise Movement Control System - EMCS)

shows that the

programme is a solid and robust enabler for the information exchange amongst tax (and customs)

authorities, moving towards a tax e-administration.

At the end of 2019, there were a total of 27 European Information Systems and related applications in

operation for taxation. During 2019, the programme continued to support the operation of all these taxation

European Information Systems and also supported further IT developments.

The

Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS)

system contributes to reducing the administrative burden on tax

administrations and compliance costs for those taxpayers active in the telecommunications, broadcasting

and electronic services and established within the Union, as it allows fulfilling their VAT obligations in a

single place of compliance instead of in each country of the economic activity. As a result, the system will

allow companies that sell goods online to their customers to deal with their VAT obligations in the EU

through one easy-to-use online portal in their own Member State and their own language. Without MOSS,

VAT registration would be required in each Member State into which they want to sell

–

a situation cited by

companies as one of the biggest barriers for small businesses trading cross-border. MOSS will be extended

to cover all cross border supplies of goods and services and will cover in addition low value goods sold to

consumers and imported into the EU as of 1 July 2021. With the

VAT Information Exchange System

(VIES),

tax administrations exchange monthly data of Intra-community supplies, while with

VIES-on-the-

Web

economic operators no longer have to use the intermediary national administration to validate the VAT

numbers of their trading partners, directly reducing the lead-time and the administrative burden and

compliance costs for traders and national administrations. VIES-on-the-Web was updated in 2019 in

preparation for a potential withdrawal of the UK in a no-deal scenario. Similarly, there was another release

regarding the

Tax Identification Number (TIN) on the Web

(ToW) to respond to an eventual no-deal Brexit.

During 2019, the IT system to support the automatic exchanges of information between Member States in

the context of the Council Directive on

Administrative Cooperation

(DAC)

in the field of direct taxation

had two major developments regarding DAC6: the standard electronic formats for exchange of information

and a central directory that enables the reporting of cross-border reportable arrangements.

In 2019, DG TAXUD also continued the exploration of the blockchain

to evaluate the operational and

governance aspects of this technology.

2.2.

Joint actions

Tax officials exchange views and best practices to fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax

planning, and to implement Union law in the taxation field, mainly via the joint actions organised under the

programme.

By building trust between Member States’ tax authorities, the programme supports

the fight

against fraud at EU level.

In the area of direct taxation, the programme funded different activities to support the

Automatic Exchange

of Information (AEOI)

under the Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of

taxation (DAC1) and its subsequent revisions. The last of these revisions (DAC6, transposition deadline was

31 December 2019) provides for reporting of potentially aggressive cross-border tax planning schemes.

Accelerated exchange of information between VAT anti-fraud units continued to be supported via

Eurofisc,

a network for the swift exchange of targeted information between Member States to enhance multilateral

administrative cooperation in combating organised VAT fraud and especially VAT carousel fraud. During

2019, there were 7 project groups relating to Eurofisc. The programme also finances simultaneous controls

(multilateral

controls

or MLC actions), coordinated controls of the tax liability of one or more related taxable

persons, organised by two or more Member States with common or complementary interests. During 2019,

198 multilateral controls were operational under the programme auspices, exhibiting an upward trend since

the launch of the programme. There were 80

Presences in the Administrative Offices and Participation

in Administrative Enquiries

(PAOE) activities organised during 2019. PAOEs consist in one Member State

requesting to be present in another Member States’ offices and/or during administrative enquiries carried out

in the territory of the requested Member State. In addition to being present, Member States’ officials may

interview individuals and examine records during administrative enquiries

–

but under the condition that this

is permitted under the legislation of the requested Member State.

Council Directive 2011/16/EU on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC1) and its subsequent revisions. In particular, the sixth

A system in which a record of transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are maintained across several computers that are linked in

revision (DAC6) introduced the first automatic exchange of cross-border arrangement as of July 2020.

a peer-to-peer network.

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During 2019, four

expert teams

were operational in the taxation area. The

Managed IT Collaboration

(MANITC III and IV) continued to promote, support and coordinate Member States collaborative initiatives in

IT area. In addition, two expert teams started to develop IT applications amongst Member States in parallel:

the expert team for

Excise Duty Calculator

(EDC), and the expert team for

Mobile Application on Excise

Movement and Control System

(m-EMCS). Finally, the

Transaction Network Analysis

expert team (TNA)

was created to group Member States’ resources to assist the Commission in the development of the

Transaction Network Analysis software, a custom built tool to facilitate information exchange and data

analysis within the Eurofisc network, in order to enhance Eurofisc capability to use VIES and Eurofisc data to

build links among known risky traders and detect fraudsters.

As regards cooperation with public administrations at EU level, DG TAXUD co-chairs and organises

meetings of the

Heads of Tax Administration Summit (TADEUS),

funded by the Fiscalis programme. In

the TADEUS meeting that took place in September 2019 (Helsinki), the Heads of Tax Administration

endorsed the findings of the ‘Digital and data’ project –

about possible tax reporting requirements for the

sharing and gig economy.

2.3.

Training and human competency

Fiscalis 2020 continued to support throughout 2019 a coherent implementation and application of tax policies

(VAT competency/tax compliance building). This happened specifically through the realisation of a content-

updating project of the

EU VAT eLearning programme

(composed of 12 VAT process-specific eLearning

modules in 17 EU languages, a total of 204 modules) to make the courses Brexit compliant and a technical

and content update of the EMCS courses, that makes this EU competency building training material fit for

use by the national public and private sector across the EU for the years to come.

In 2018 an EU-wide survey on Human Capacity Building Maturity in national tax administrations was

performed and resulted by end 2019 in the availability of the

first common EU TAX Competency

Framework (TaxCompEU),

that provides national tax administrations with a common reference standard for

optimal staff performance, based on identified common tax values, operational tax competencies,

professional and management competencies and tax career paths. Implementation in national tax

administrations’ HR structures will be further accompanied and supported as of 2020.

swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

3.1

INTRODUCTION

Fiscalis 2020 in a nutshell

The EU Regulation 1286/2013 established the multiannual action programme Fiscalis 2020 for the period

from 2014 to 2020 with the aim to improve the proper functioning of the taxation systems in the internal

market by enhancing cooperation between participating countries, their tax authorities and their officials.

Total budget foreseen for this programme period is EUR 223.4 million. The programme represents a

continuation of the earlier generations of programmes Fiscalis 2007

and Fiscalis 2013

, which have

significantly contributed to facilitating and enhancing cooperation between tax authorities within the Union.

Figure 1: Fiscalis 2020 programme objectives

The Fiscalis 2020 specific objective:



The specific objective of the programme shall be to support the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion

and aggressive tax planning and the implementation of Union law in the field of taxation by ensuring

exchange of information, by supporting administrative cooperation and, where necessary and appropriate, by

enhancing the administrative capacity of participating countries with a view to assisting in reducing the

administrative burden on tax authorities and the compliance costs for taxpayers.

The Fiscalis 2020 operational objectives:



to implement, improve, operate and support the European Information Systems for taxation;



to support the improvement of administrative procedures and the sharing of good administrative

practices



to support administrative cooperation activities;

to reinforce the skills and competence of tax officials;

to enhance the understanding and implementation of Union law in the field of taxation;



There are three types of activities that are organised under the programme:



European Information Systems building

- these IT systems and the IT capacity building are

indispensable for the cooperation among taxation authorities. The programme covers the cost of

acquisition, development, installation, maintenance and day-to-day operation of the Union

components of European Information Systems.

Joint actions (JA)

- bringing together officials from the participating countries - these are most

commonly project groups, working visits, workshops and seminars. The programme covers the cost

of organisation and participation in these activities.

Types of joint actions:

(i)

(ii)

seminars and workshops;

project groups, generally composed of a limited number of countries, operational during a

limited period of time to pursue a predefined objective with a precisely described outcome;

bilateral or multilateral controls and other activities provided for in Union law on

administrative cooperation, organised by two or more participating countries, which include

at least two Member States;

working visits organised by the participating countries or another country to enable officials

to acquire or increase their expertise or knowledge in tax matters;

expert teams, namely structured forms of cooperation, with a non-permanent character,

pooling expertise to perform tasks in specific domains, in particular in the European



(iii)

(iv)

(v)

OJ L 341, 17.12.2002, p. 1

OJ L 330, 15.12.2007, p.1

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Information Systems, possibly with the support of online collaboration services,

administrative assistance and infrastructure and equipment facilities;

(vi)

(vii)

(viii)

(ix)

public administration capacity-building and supporting actions;

studies;

communication projects;

any other activity in support of the overall, specific and operational objectives and priorities

set out in Articles 5 and 6 of the Fiscalis 2020 regulation, provided that the necessity for

such other activity is duly justified.



Human Capacity Building

- training materials and electronic learning modules play a vital part in

developing the human competency component of the tax authorities in the EU. The programme

covers the development cost of the common training materials, including electronic training modules.

The Commission and the participating countries (EU Member States and countries recognised as candidates

or potential candidates for EU membership having concluded international agreements for their participation

in the Fiscalis 2020 programme

) establish jointly the annual priorities of the programme by adopting each

year the AWP. The implementation of the programme is under direct management by the Commission,

meaning that it is centrally managed by DG TAXUD. It is implemented financially on the basis of grant

agreements with the participating countries (joint actions), and procurements (mostly for European

Information Systems, studies, and common training activities).

3.2

The Performance Measurement Framework

Article 16 of the Fiscalis 2020 regulation stipulates that the Commission shall monitor the implementation of

the programme and actions under it on the basis of indicators and make the outcome of such monitoring

public. The final evaluation of the Fiscalis 2013 programme equally made the recommendation that "the

Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States, should set up a results-based monitoring and

evaluation (M&E) system for the Fiscalis programme".

In order to achieve this purpose, the Commission established in 2014 a Performance Measurement

Framework (PMF) to be implemented with the start of the new programme. The PMF is based on the

intervention logic (see Figure 3), which describes the logical step-by-step link between the wider problems

and needs addressed by the programme and the programme's objectives, inputs, activities, outputs, results

and impacts. The PMF relies both on the quantitative (indicators) and qualitative (reporting and

interpretation) data for assessing the progress achieved.

The indicators can be divided into two categories:

Output and result indicators

–

these are first and second order effects that can be directly attributed to the

programme. Outputs refer to those effects (most often tangible products) achieved immediately after

implementing an activity, while the results look at the mid-term effects or the difference made on the ground

thanks to the outputs. Both types of indicators are collected annually, reflected in the Progress Report and

are linked to the operational objectives of the programme.

Impact indicators

–

they indicate the long-term effects of the programme by measuring its contribution to

the broader policy areas, where programme activities are only one of the contributing factors. They mostly

rely on the use of existing external indicators (not collected by PMF surveys) and are mainly assessed as

part of evaluations, such as the one carried out in 2018 and the one foreseen in 2021 for the Fiscalis

programme (mid-term and final evaluations, as required by Article 18 of Regulation 1294/2013). They are

linked to the higher-level specific objectives of the programme and the policies it supports.

The PMF uses both its own data collection tools and the data gathered externally. The external data is

collected either by other organisations at a global level or inside DG TAXUD of the Commission.

The PMF’s

own data collection tools gather feedback from programme stakeholders and are summarised in the table

below.

34 participating countries: 28 Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Republic of Serbia,

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/common/publications/studies/fiscalis2013_final_evaluation.pdf

and Turkey.

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Figure 2: PMF data collection tools

Tool

Action Reporting Tool

(ART) - Proposal form

Action Follow up Form

(AFF)

Action Follow up Form

for working visits

Event

Form (EAF)

Programme Poll

Assessment

60 days after the end of an event or yearly in case of

project groups or similar activities longer than 1 year

Every 18 months

–

to be launched in:



Mid-2015,



beginning 2017



mid-2018



end 2019

Participants to an event or members of a

project group or similar activities

The Programme Poll is addressed to all

customs officials in the participating

countries

In February, one form per action or one form each year

for multi-annual actions

Participants to the working visit

Action managers

When is the data submitted?

At the beginning of each activity

Who is submitting the data?

Action managers

The PMF follows the annual reporting cycle. It takes into consideration a calendar year of activities initiated

or organised under the programme. The drafting of the Annual Progress Report starts in the following year

once the data collection process is finalised. Following data analysis and consultation with stakeholders, it is

published during the following year. The Annual Progress Reports represent a summary of the main output

and result indicators and gives an assessment of the overall progress achieved during the year.

The mid-term evaluation (in 2018) and the final evaluation (in 2021) of the programme make full use of the

available Annual Progress Reports and report on the impacts of the programme’s intervention.

3.3

Mid-term evaluation of the programme

In accordance with Article 18 of the Fiscalis 2020 Regulation, DG TAXUD conducted a mid-term evaluation

of the programme supported by an

external study.

The main objective of this evaluation was been to

assess the programme's performance since the launch of the programme in 2014 until 2017, including

strengths and weaknesses of activities; the continued relevance of problems and needs and the

programme’s efficiency and value for money.

The study by the contractors was finalised at the end of 2018 and is available online, on the Publication

Office of the EU . This study supported the

Commission Report

on the mid-term evaluation of Fiscalis 2020

addressed to the European Parliament and the Council , which was adopted on 07/02/2019.

DG TAXUD, together with national customs authorities, adopted in 2019 an

action plan

to address the

recommendations. The implementation of the recommendations will be regularly monitored (first follow-up

exercise will be done in Q4 of 2020). The final assessment of the follow-up of recommendations will be

provided at the time of the final evaluations of Customs and Fiscalis 2020 programmes.

Following one of the recommendations of the mid-term evaluation, DG TAXUD launched in 2019 an external

study to review the PMF. The study’s

aim is to reassess the current set of indicators, simplify them and fit the

monitoring results better to decision-making needs. The study also addressed the European Court of

Auditors recommendation to set appropriate reporting arrangements and indicators both on the overall level

of implementation and on individual IT projects. The study is planned to finalise in October 2020.

https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/abf11482-33f8-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-

COM/2019/579

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Figure 3: Intervention logic of the Fiscalis 2020 programme

Impacts

The functioning of the taxation

systems in the internal market is

improved.

Curbed tax fraud, tax evasion

and aggressive tax planning.

Problems / needs

Diverging application and implementation of EU tax law

Inadequate response to tax fraud, avoidance and evasion

Pressure on national tax administrations to exchange increasing quantities of data and information

securely and rapidly

High administrative burden for tax payers and tax administrations

Slow technical progress in the public sector

Overall objective

Improve the proper functioning of the taxation systems in the internal market by enhancing cooperation

between participating countries, their tax authorities and their officials

Effective implemention of Union

law in the field of taxation (by

supporting administrative

cooperation & exchange of

information)

Reduced administrative burden

on tax administrations and

compliance costs for tax payers.

Results

Collaboration between Member

States, their administrations and

officials in the field of taxation is

enhanced.

The correct application of and

compliance with Union law in the

field of taxation is supported.

The European Information

Systems for taxation effectively

facilitate information

management by being available.

Administrative procedures and

good practices identified,

developed and shared.

Skills and competences of tax

officials reinforced.

Effective administrative

cooperation.

Theory of change

(incl. EU added value)

F2020 finances supporting

measures to ensure that

the EU tax policy is applied

in an effective, efficient,

convergent and harmonised

way, in particular by:



Boosting the

effectiveness of the

work of participating

countries’ national

taxation administrations

(inter alia by facilitating

exchange of

information).



Enhancing networks

between tax officials

across Member States

through which

information can be

shared.

Inputs

EUR 234 million to provide

support in the form of:



grants;



public procurement

contracts;



reimbursement of costs

incurred by external

experts

Human resources (EC and

national tax authorities)

Activities

(grouped into projects)

Outputs

Joint actions:



Recommendations /

guidelines (including

action plans /

roadmaps)



Best practices



Analysis



Networking &

cooperation

IT systems:



New (components of)

IT systems at users’

disposal



Continued operation of

existing IT systems

Training:



Common training

content developed

Joint actions:

Seminars & workshops;

project groups; working

visits; bi/multilateral

controls; expert teams;

public administration

capacity building and

supporting actions; studies

and communication

projects.

Development,

maintenance, operation and

quality control of

systems

Common

training

actions

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4.1

PROGRAMME YEAR 2019

–

BASIC PARAMETERS (on budget and joint actions)

Budget

The overview in Figure 4 below summarises the programme funding according to the six main activity types.

In order to make the table more meaningful, budgetary information from previous years has been added.

Figure 4: Committed expenses per budgetary year and main action categories under the programme,

in euros

2014

European Information

Systems

Joint actions (other than

expert teams and studies)

Joint Actions - expert

teams

Training

Studies and

communication

External experts

TOTAL

AWP

EU Annual Budget

Amount MFF

23 053 874

4 555 000

908 585

2 184 539

75 000

30 776 999

30 777 000

2015

24 691 254

4 230 000

600 003

1 375 690

70 000

30 966 94

31 025 000

2016

23 244 421

4 300 000

988 040

1 205 600

1 640 916

70 000

31 448 978

31 449 000

2017

24 824 594

4 540 000

519 915

1 898 800

70 000

31 853 309

31 809 000

2018

22 375 306

4 912 500

899 585

1 352 000

1 867 658

70 000

31 477 049

32 043 000

2019

24 768 693

5 576 400

330 000

1 374 000

520 372

32 569 465

32 570 000

As is standard for the programme, the vast majority of funding in 2019 went into the development and

operation of European Information Systems (76% of the budget), followed by the organisation of the joint

actions (19.8%), and the training activities (4.2%).

The Commission undertakes IT capacity building activities through contracts following public procurement.

The expenditure dedicated to IT systems has remained quite stable over the last years .

In the last five years, the committed expenses on joint actions (organised under grant agreements) have

increased year after year in line with the increase in the number of participants and actions. It is worth

recalling that the expenses for joint actions are difficult to forecast in advance, given that actions and events

are triggered by constantly evolving business needs. For this reason, the planned expenses that appear in

the AWP can differ to a smaller or larger percentage from actual commitments in a given year on joint

actions.

The amounts dedicated to expert teams have been oscillating since 2016, when the first expert teams were

launched. In 2017 and 2019 there was a decrease of the budgetary commitments, which does not mean a

lower level of activity as the expert teams created in the previous years (when the budget was committed)

continued to work in subsequent year(s) given the multiannuality nature of this type of activity.

Regarding training activities, there were no commitments in 2017 as the contracts signed in previous years

were of a multiannual nature and the activities funded in 2017 were funded from these contracts. The

amount committed in 2019 remained at a similar level to that of 2018.

During 2019 there were no commitments to finance the participation of external experts in the programme,

as reimbursements to external experts were covered with available commitments from previous years.

The programme also finances the conduct of studies, data collection and comparative analyses in taxation

issues. Some of the initiatives finalised during the year were the following:

The table compares committed amounts since the launch of the programme, as the actual expenses are not finalised for all the previous years.

It is to be noted that the total amount of appropriations may be higher when using foreseen financial contributions from candidate and

It should be noticed that the specific contracts are usually shared with the Customs 2020 programme.

Budgetary year X covers from 01/04/X to 31/03/X+1

potential candidate countries participating in the Fiscalis 2020 programme.

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

In September 2019, the Commission published the evaluation of the Energy Taxation Directive

(ETD), which lays down rules for the taxation of energy products used as motor or heating fuels and

for electricity. The evaluation pointed out that the high divergence in national energy tax rates is not

in line with other policy instruments and can lead to fragmentation of the internal market, a problem

exacerbated by the widespread use of optional tax exemptions.

Also in September 2019, the Commission published the Study and Report on the VAT Gap in the 28

EU Member States. According to the study, which contains new estimates of the VAT Gap for 2017,

EU Member States are still losing over EUR 137 billion in revenues. The VAT Gap decreased in 25

Member States and increased in three. Individual performances across Member States still vary

significantly. This substantial VAT Gap again highlights the need for a comprehensive reform of the

EU VAT rules, as proposed by the Commission back in 2017.

Participants in joint actions (excluding expert teams)



4.2

The number of total participants has increased considerably during 2019, reaching 5 327, with 554 more

participants than in 2018 (increase of 11.6 %).

Figure 5: Evolution in the number of participants in joint actions under Fiscalis 2020

5327

4433

3400

4465

4773

4284

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

It is important to stress that participation in programme activities is voluntary and is influenced by a number

of factors, such as the business need for organising activities, the trend of moving away from physical

meetings towards online collaboration, as well as the individual national administration's capacity and

interest in participation.

If we look at the distribution of participants by country, we can see that all the countries are making use of

the programme, but that some countries, considering the size of their administration, do so more than

others. This is in line with the voluntary nature of participation in the programme activities, where the number

of participants from a given country depends partly on the level of interest and activity shown by the

country’s administration in using the potential

of the programme. In absolute terms, the countries that had a

higher number of participants during 2019 were Germany (471), Sweden (329) and Italy (278). In

comparative terms to the previous year, we noticed in 2019 a big increase in the participation of Germany

(65%) and Sweden (50%); together with a remarkable decrease rate in the participation of Albania (80%)

and Serbia (40%).

This is the number of total participants (which measures all instances of participation in activities and allows the same people to have taken

part in multiple activities).

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Figure 6: Overview of participants per country in 2019

1415

4.3

Joint actions (other than expert teams): proposals and actions

To set up an activity under the programme, one of the programme teams (participating country or the EC)

has to submit a proposal with information on the background, objective, expected results, participants and

financial cost involved. This proposal is then evaluated by DG TAXUD and Member States are consulted. If

confirmed, usually a single joint action is implemented. However, one proposal may also cover multiple joint

action activities, as in the case of multilateral controls. Each activity (action) is approved for a certain period

during which the associated work, including meetings, take place. This period is only restricted by the

programme's overall timeframe and is detached from calendar or budgetary years.

In 2019, the total number of

operational joint actions

(i.e. the ones that were launched in previous years

and continued their activities in 2019, together with the newly launched actions) was 647. This figure

represents a decrease of 4.1% by comparison with 2018 (675 actions). When analysing this figure we

should take into account that in the last years many actions were to a greater extent organised in broader

projects covering themes rather than specific interventions. Content-wise, the projects are usually multi-

annual rather than annual, as the actions and processes they stretch over more than one year. This may

lead to less new initiatives and in a decrease in the total number of ongoing actions (and new proposals) for

a specific year.

We can see from the two figures below that, as in previous years, the most popular action type remains

working visits, followed by multilateral controls placed second and PAOE as distant third, followed by project

groups. It is worth mentioning that the new type of working visits

(“host initiated working visits”) appears

the 2019 overview, showing 1 operational activity during the year.

The situation with regard to the number of participants is somewhat reversed with the project groups being

the largest activity type in terms of participation, followed by multilateral controls and workshops. This is

explained by the fact that project groups are very often long-term / multiannual activities, under which

several events are organised every year and also by the fact that project groups normally address a larger

audience than working visits or multilateral controls.

In comparative terms, we can notice in 2019 a very high increase in the number of participants in project

groups (from 1 810 to 2 672, i.e. 47% increase) and multilateral controls (from 982 to 1 139, i.e. 16%

The participants marked as EU represent external experts who come outside national administrations and who may be invited to contribute to

selected activities organised under the programme wherever this is essential for the achievement of the programme objectives.

Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries abbreviations: AL (Albania), BA (Bosnia-Herzegovina), ME (Montenegro), MK (Rep. North

Macedonia), RS (Rep. Serbia), TR (Turkey).

The 2019 number of participants for BA, ME and MK were not available at the time of drafting this report. The figures from 2018 has been used

Actions are always created before events under that action and its participants are added as last step. This time gap explains that the number

instead.

of participants is lower for Host initiated working visits and PAOE than the number of those operational actions.

swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

increase). On the contrary, there was a decrease in the number of participants in capacity building activities

(from 23 to 7, i.e. 69% decrease) and PAOE (from 90 to 46, i.e. 49% decrease).

Figure 7: overview of activity types and number of participants per activity type

If we want to look at the evolution of

new proposals

over time (Figure 8), we first need to exclude the

working visits in order to get a comparative number . We can observe an exceptionally high number of

proposals in 2014, as it was the year of transition to the new programme and all proposals for ongoing

activities had to be re-launched. From 2015 to 2018, we can observe a return to a standard number of

proposals treated during a year. During 2019, 35 new proposals were approved, which represents a

decrease of 8 proposals by comparison with the previous year. As previously explained, during the last year

actions were to a greater extent organised in broader projects covering themes rather than specific

interventions, which may lead to a decrease in the number of proposals and activities.

The graph on number of participants per action type does not cover participants not registered in ART.

This is because in the period before 2014 all the working visits were covered by a single proposal, while under the Fiscalis 2020 programme

each business case for a working visit is treated as a separate proposal (thus increasing their number by a significant margin). Comparing the

proposals in this way, outside working visits, we can see that their number was steady in the period 2011-2013.

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Figure 8: Number of new proposals approved during 2019 (without working visits)

At the level of the initiating teams, as expected, most of the proposals for joint actions were submitted by

DG TAXUD units (marked EU in Figure 9). The national programme teams mostly submitted proposals for

working visits, and here too we can observe in the figure below the difference among the administrations in

the level to which they pro-actively utilise the programme. By comparison with the figures of 2018, we notice

a considerable involvement of Turkey (14 new proposals), Serbia, North Macedonia, Lithuania and Denmark

(6 new proposals each).

Figure 9: Overview of new proposals per initiating country in 2019 (including working visits)

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5.1

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Cross-cut indicators of collaboration robustness between programme stakeholders

The first section of the Performance Measurement Framework contains a number of programme-wide

indicators measuring awareness, networking, the use of outputs, and the achievement of results by the joint

actions.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Extent to which JA (that sought to

enhance

collaboration

countries,

between

their

participating

AFF

(excl.

Working

Visits)

2.65

(2014)

2.65

3.25

3.11

3.67

3.19

administrations and officials in the

field of taxation) have achieved their

intended result(s), as reported by

action managers: average score on

the scale of 0 (not achieved) to 4

(fully achieved)

AFF

Working

Visits

3.62

(2014)

3.62

3.34

3.37

3.65

3.45

3.53

Firstly, in this section we take a general look at the achievement of results as reported by the action

managers. In the case of most project groups, the action managers are DG TAXUD policy experts, while for

the working visits these are national tax officials. For the other types of actions, the actions managers are

indistinctly coming from the Commission or national administrations. The level of achievement of results is

evaluated against the anticipated results on a scale from 0 (not achieved) to 4 (fully achieved) at the end of

the action. The level of achievement is impacted both by internal factors (if an activity lasts for several years,

the results cannot be fully achieved immediately) and by external factors (such as political, business or

technological developments). It is therefore advisable to set realistic targets for the achievement of results.

In the case of most joint actions, such a target has been set at 3 or higher (3 corresponding to "results

achieved to a large extent"). When we compare the obtained indicators for 2019 against the targets and the

values in the preceding years, we can see that joint actions have been performing above target (3.19),

although with a decrease of approx. half a point when compared with 2018 value. The feedback provided by

action managers specifically for working visits (which follow an independent survey) has been very positive

over the last years, despite minor fluctuations, and is especially high for 2019 (3.53), indicating that the

participants are broadly satisfied with the business value obtained.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

(2011 Poll)

Extent to which the target audience is

aware of the programme

Prog.

Poll

66%

>75%

54%

59%

48%

45%

Target

Mid 2015

End 2016

Mid 2018

End 2019

Raising awareness

about the programme and its potential among the target audience is an important

precondition to fulfilling the programme’s objectives. The awareness is measured through the Programme

Poll, which is distributed in all the tax administrations of the participating countries every 18 months. The Poll

is distributed among both participants and non-participants to the programme’s

activities,

since its goal is to

measure awareness among the whole of the target audience.

The forth Programme Poll took place at the end of 2019, gathering replies from 3 948 officials working in 29

participating countries. We can observe that approx. 45% of all tax officials in Europe are aware of the

Fiscalis 2020 programme, which represents a decrease of 3 percentage points compared to the poll results

for 2018. The awareness in previous polls had also always been below the baseline (66%) and target (75%).

In order to raise awareness, DG TAXUD defined in 2016 a new communication strategy for the Fiscalis 2020

programme, which included the use of new communication tools and channels, as well as a common effort

between the EU and national programme teams in the distribution of information on the programme to the

potential beneficiaries. In line with the annual action plan, several communication actions took place in 2019:



A meeting for newcomers in the programme management community aiming to familiarise them with

programme basics and to integrate them into the network of national programme coordinators

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

A network meeting for national programme coordinators where these had the occasion to deepen

contacts with their counterparts in other administrations, get an update on programme management

and implementation of the current and the new programmes

A network meeting for national working visit coordinators with the objectives to strengthen the

network and to involve coordinators in the reflection on a smooth transition towards the new

programmes

Several newsletters summarising programme highlights were published

A member of the CPMT gave a presentation on the programmes in the meeting of the European

Communication Network for Customs and Taxation

In addition, a pilot project was launched to introduce knowledge sharing within the Customs and

Fiscalis 2020 programmes to increase the awareness of all national officials and not only those

participating in programme events.



Indicator: Degree of

networking generated by

programme activities

Q1: Did the activity provide you a

good opportunity to expand your

network of and contacts with

officials abroad? (percentage

agreeing)

Q2: Have you been in contact for

work purposes with the officials

you met during this activity since

the activity ended? (percentage

agreeing)

Source

Baseline

(2013)

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

EAF

79.0%

>90.0%

95.2%

96.7%

97.0%

96.9%

95.2%

96.2%

EAF

75.0%

>80.0%

68.0%

72.8%

69.0%

74.8%

62.2%

69.6%

The collaboration between tax officials is a key sustainable success factor for implementing taxation policy in

Europe. This networking improves the understanding and the implementation of the tax law in the area of

fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. It ensures the exchange of best practices

and knowledge and creates the framework for joining efforts when IT solutions are developed.

Indeed, the feedback from participants in joint actions collected under the Performance Measurement

Framework shows that the collaboration robustness between programme participants overall remains at high

levels. Regarding the

degree of networking generated by the programme,

the rates reached since the

launch of the programme have been above target. In particular for 2019, 96.2% of the responding

participants declared that the programme provided a good opportunity for them to expand their network of

(and contacts with) officials abroad; a slightly better result than the one reached in 2018 (95.2%).

Additionally, in the same period, the number of respondents who declared that they have been in contact for

work purposes with the officials they met during programme activities (long-lasting

networking)

averaged

at around 70% from 2014 to 2016, rising to 74.8 % in 2017 and dropping to 62.2% in 2018. This low level of

long-lasting networking, which has always been below target, may be result of an unclear understanding of

the different possibilities to “be in contact”, which more often includes collaborative

tools beyond the

traditional contacts (such as physical meetings or direct phone calls). Additional explanations were included

in the EAF for 2019, which resulted in a slight improvement of this indicator (69.6%).

Data source changed from Programme Poll to EAF in order to improve data availability for years without poll.

The lasting networking measurement in this report for 2019 (69.6) differs in 0.6 percentage points to the measurement on the 2019 Annual

Activity Report of DG TAXUD (69%) and on the Programme Statement. This is due to the fact that the measurement for the Annual Activity

Report is preliminary (it takes place in February, when data is still not complete; data collection ends in March).

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Indicator: Extent to which

programme outputs (e.g. guidelines

or training material) are shared

within national administrations

Q 1 (AFF): Were the outputs of the

action shared in national

administrations? (percentage agreeing)

Q 2 (EAF): Further to your participation

in this activity, did you share with

colleagues

what

you learned?

(percentage agreeing)

Source

Baseline

(2014)

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

AFF

48.0%

>60.0%

48.0%

63.5%

63.0%

56.2%

71.5%

52,0%

EAF

96.0%

>90%

96.4%

94.8%

95.8%

92.7%

94.3%

94.7%

The levels of

sharing the programme outputs

(such as recommendations, guidelines, studies, etc.), as

reported by action managers through the Action Follow-up Form, increased in 2015 and 2016, but in 2017

dropped below target. Following a high increase in 2018, the result dropped again in 2019 (52.0%), meaning

that action managers reported that the outputs of their actions were less shared in the national

administrations than in previous years. This decrease does not seem to affect the levels of sharing as

reported by the participants through the Event Assessment Forms: the knowledge acquired from joint

actions was informally spread by participants among colleagues to a very high extent (94.7%), above the set

target of 90.0%.

N.B. Sections 5.2 to 5.6 below provide an analysis of the performance under the different operational objectives. It should be taken into

account that, when referring to the number of joint actions, the figure includes the actions launched in previous years and continued

their activities in 2018, together with the newly launched ones. When counting the number of actions that are operational in a year

under a specific objective, it should also be taken into account that the indicator only counts the actions for which the objective in

question was chosen as primary objective; this is done so to avoid counting twice the same action under different objectives.

5.2

Objective 1: implement, improve, operate and support the European Information Systems for

taxation

At EU level, the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning, and the implementation of

Union law in the field of taxation, are mainly conducted by setting-up IT systems and other mechanisms of

cooperation. These IT systems (EIS) allow tax administrations to exchange information by electronic means.

The great majority of the programme funding (approx. 75%) is spent on the development, acquisition,

installation, maintenance and day-to-day operations of the Union components of these EIS. The list of the

existing EIS is included in the Annex of the Fiscalis 2020 Regulation.

The EIS supported by the programme interconnect tax authorities effectively and enable information to be

exchanged rapidly and by secure electronic means, supporting cooperation amongst them. In addition, the

EIS allows the use of a common format that can be recognised by all Member States and thus facilitate the

coexistence of the different national taxation systems in the Union.

The information exchange is enabled by a closed and secure

CCN/CSI

–

one of the main outcomes of the

programme. From 2014 to 2019, the CCN/CSI had high availability and the number of exchanged messages

on the network has been rising over time.

This section provides information on the key performance indicators for EIS, together with detailed technical

information on different IT aspects, such as continuity, deployment and development. Joint actions carried

out to support the EIS are also covered (point VI). Annex 1 of this report provides specific information on the

status of the IT projects in the taxation area in 2019.

Operational statistics of key EIS for taxation and its impact on enhancing administrative cooperation

activities are analysed in section 5.3.

–

Overview of taxation IT systems in 2019

During 2019, DG TAXUD continued operating an important portfolio of IT systems (27 in total by the end of

the year), supporting participating countries in their exchanges of information and also supporting legal and

physical persons in their trade relations.

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In the context of modernising the taxation IT systems and/or expanding the scope of tax exchanges with

other partners, the 2019 key achievements in terms of system deployment and development have been:

a) Direct taxation systems:



In the area of direct taxation, the programme funded different activities to support the automatic

exchanges of information under the Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in

the field of taxation (DAC1) and its subsequent revisions .The last of these revisions (DAC6,

transposition deadline 31 December 2019) provides for reporting of potentially aggressive cross-

border tax planning schemes. During 2019 there were two major developments regarding

DAC6:

the

standard electronic formats for exchange of information and a central directory that enables the

reporting of cross-border reportable arrangements. For further details on the DAC6 system, see case

study in section 6.2.



TIN (Taxation Identification Number)-on-the-web:

the Brexit release was deployed in production

in March to respond to a potential withdrawal of the UK in a no-deal scenario.

b) Indirect taxation systems:



The

VAT Information Exchange System (VIES)-on-the-Web

was updated in 2019 in preparation

for a potential withdrawal of the UK in a no-deal scenario. Similarly, there was another release

regarding the VIES on the Web to respond to an eventual no-deal Brexit.

The

Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS)

was being extended during 2019 to comply with the new

measures needed to simplify VAT rules for sales of goods online. As a result, the portal allows

companies that sell goods online to their customers to deal with their VAT obligations in the EU

through one easy-to-use online portal in their own Member State and their own language. Without

MOSS, VAT registration would be required in each Member State into which they want to sell, a

situation cited by companies as one of the biggest barriers for small businesses trading cross-

border.



c) Other:



In 2019, DG TAXUD continued the exploration of the

Blockchain

to evaluate the operational and

governance aspects of this technology.

II - Key performance indicators for European Information Systems

F2020 output indicators

–

New IT systems

Number of IT projects in the research phase (PP)

Number of IT projects in the development phase (P)

2017

2018

2019

Council Directive 2011/16/EU on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC1) and its subsequent revisions:

The first automatic exchange of information took place in 2014 regarding non-financial items (e.g. income for employment) under the Council

Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC1). The second revision of the Directive (DAC2) provided for the

automatic exchange of tax information on financial items on 2016 as of 2017; Fiscalis financed in 2014 and 2015 the definition of the technical

and functional specifications. Taking into account the international context around this initiative (namely, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

- FATCA and the OECD CRS global standard), the developments registered under the programme in this area had a strong international

resonance. The third revision of the directive (DAC3 provided for the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings and advance pricing

arrangement as of 2017. The fourth revision (DAC4) provided for automatic exchanges of country-by-country reporting as of 2018, while the fifth

revision (DAC5 for access to mechanisms, procedures, documents and information as regards beneficial ownership. The sixth revision (DAC6)

introduced the first automatic exchange of cross-border arrangement as of July 2020.

The figures reported for 2017 and 2018 in research phase included all projects not in development or production phase, i.e. including dormant

CESOP

e-Commerce

ones such as Country profiles, Tobacco Track and trace, etc. The criteria was changed in 2019 and only those projects in PP were counted.

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Number of new IT systems in operation (PROD)

Ratio of IT projects in status "green"

F2020 output indicators

–

Existing IT systems

Number of European Information Systems

Regulation

Number of modifications on IT systems in operation

following:

a) business requests

Excise

82%

2017

94%

2018

100%

2019

operation, as per Annex 1 of the Fiscalis 2020

104

205

199

264

170

312

Excise

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

Excise

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

208

129

268

Excise

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

Excise

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

173

618

134

120

397

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

b) corrections

Excise

Direct Taxes

VAT

Recovery

Other

Number of occurrences where the service desk is

not joinable (Member States)

Percentage of service calls answered on time

(Member States)

F2020 result indicators

–

European Information

Systems

Availability of CCN (% of time)

Availability of VIES-on-the-Web (% of time)

Availability of EMCS (% of time)

Volume of data exchanged on CCN (Customs and

Taxation)

Number of messages on CCN Network (Customs

and Taxation)

None

99.45%

97.33%

95.91%

2017

2018

2019

99.98%

99.93%

99.61%.

99.97%

99.99%

99.56%.

99.47%

99.98%

99.62%

22.89 Terabytes

29.08 Terabytes

32.23 Terabytes

4 348 million messages

5 789 million messages

6 902 million messages

II - IT Continuity

Ensuring the business and IT systems’ continuity is a major responsibility under the programme since

disruptions in the operation of the European tax IT systems would affect national administrations, citizens

and businesses across the entire EU and hamper the functioning of the internal market. All the centralised IT

systems, as well as their underlying infrastructure (CCN/CSI)

–

developed, managed and maintained by the

Commission - were available from 2014 to 2019 more than 99% of the time meeting the expected targets.

In particular for 2019:

TNA, eFCA, DAC6

Projects that are progressing in line with the requirements, time and budget limitations set-up.

For the month of January where the application suffered from a severe disruption of service, the availability was 99.58% or a total of about 3

hours of cumulative downtime over the month.

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

CCN/CSI, the underlying infrastructure supporting both taxation and customs IT systems, was

available from 2014 to 2019 more than 99% of the time during working hours. Specifically during

2019, the availability of this platform was 99.47%, which represents 0.51 percentage points less than

in 2018 and slightly below target (99.90%). The figure of 2019 availability rate reflects planned,

agreed unavailabilities to deploy new CCN releases and new applications on the platform, as per the

MASP-C Revision 2019, endorsed by the Customs Policy Group in December 2019. This was well

communicated in advance to all stakeholders, including national customs and tax authorities, which

did not face any negative impact.

Systems critical for the functioning of the internal market, like the VAT Information Exchange System

(VIES) and the VIES-on-the-WEB application were running without major interruptions, with a very

high availability rate (99.84%).

Another key system, the EMCS, had an availability of 99.62%, slightly above the rate of 2018.



III - Direct Taxation Systems

Main developments in 2019:



DAC6 release:

the IT framework for automatic exchanges of information was expanded for

information of cross-border tax advantage arrangements. According to the Directive 2011/16/EU, the

Commission adopted the following practical arrangements within the legal milestone of 31 December

2019:

Standard forms (including linguistic arrangements)

A secure Member State central directory

Background DAC information:

The Fiscalis programme has funded over the years different activities to support the mandatory AEOI

under the Council Directive 2011/16/EU on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC1)

and its subsequent revisions.

In December 2018 DG TAXUD published a report on the first experiences of AEOI, which confirmed

that the automatic exchanges have started relatively well, from the perspective of the common IT

framework. All Member States have actively built and accommodated their IT systems that are linked

to the common EU solutions, and all Member States have started secured automatic exchanges of

the planned exchanges of information on:



income from employment, pensions, directors fees, income and assets from immovable

property and life insurance (commonly known as DAC1),

income and assets on financial accounts (DAC2), as well as

advance tax rulings and advance pricing arrangements (DAC3).

country-by-country reporting of multinational enterprise groups (DAC4)

The last of these revisions (DAC6) provides for reporting of potentially aggressive cross-border tax

planning schemes. For further details on the DAC6 see case study in section 6.2

DG TAXUD will continue to monitor the quality and timeliness of the data exchanges, and if possible,

will provide support for the Member States in their efforts to enhance the use of the AEOI data

received from other Member States.



e-Forms Central Application (eFCA):

v1.3.4 was deployed in production on 31 January 2019,

fulfilling the business milestone which was for 01 February 2019. A more advanced version (v1.4.4

dp2) was deployed in production on 14 October 2019. Finally, the latest updated versions (v1.5.0

and v1.5.1-dp1) were deployed in production on 5 December 2019.

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The last Member State administration entered into eFCA operations on 1 August 2019.

Background e-Forms information:

The eFCA is a common application to support the exchange of information between Member States

in taxation different domains in the context of the administrative cooperation. It is operational since

2014 and supports the exchange of information between Member States for VAT, recovery and direct

taxation through a central portal. eFCA has led to significant improvements in maintenance and

usability of the electronic forms.



TIN-on-the-web (ToW):

v1.9.0 Brexit release was deployed in Production on 12 March 2019, in

order to be ready for enabling the Brexit no deal scenario features of the application.

Another version of ToW for Brexit (v1.10.1) was deployed in Production on 31 October 2019.

Background ToW information:

Tax Identification Number on the web (ToW) is a system to provide a web-enabled interface allowing

end-users to verify Taxes Identification Number (TIN) via the Internet for any Member States. It is

operational since 2012.

IV - Indirect Taxation Systems

Main developments in 2019:



VIES-on-the-Web:

Brexit releases followed the business decision on whether Brexit configuration

should be enabled in production environment. In total, four VIES-on-the-web releases were delivered

and tested with Brexit configuration.

Background VIES information:

VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) on-the-web

is an electronic means of validating VAT-

identification numbers of economic operators registered in the European Union for cross border

transactions on goods or services. Thanks to VIES-on-the-web, economic operators no longer have

to use the intermediary national administration to validate the VAT numbers of their trading partners,

directly reducing the lead-time, the administrative burden and compliance costs for the traders and

the national administrations. At the beginning of 2017, the number of VIES-on-the-web validations

were more than 1260 million and this figure was further increased during 2018, up to 1 860 million

messages (47.3% higher). In 2018, VIES on-the-web messages accounted for 63.46% of the total

messages exchanged in the different VIES systems (Registry, Turnover Data and Member State

Warning in addition to VIES on-the-web).



The development and the transition activities on the Member States administrations side for the

VIES Call-off stocks

scope, were initiated during 2019. The Functional Specifications were made

available to Member States in March. The VIES Call-off stocks Conformance Testing Campaign

started in September.

The migration of VAT

Refund domain into Conformance Testing Application took place on 4 April

2019, achieving one more milestone for the project.

The latest version of the

e-Forms Central Application (eFCA) VTA Domain

was deployed in

production on 26 March 2019, five days earlier than the business milestone, which was set on 1 April



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2019. National tax administrations officially start their operations on 10 April 2019 (including

Norway), while the last administrations entered into eFCA VTA Domain production on 1 August

2019.



SEED (System of Exchange of Excise Data):

two official Conformance Testing campaigns were

launched for the Brexit no-deal scenario. In February, CA SEED stress tests were performed.

Namely, EU27 Member State administrations were invited to perform two retrievals of the UK test

data simultaneously from Central SEED Database in Conformance.

Also in the area of excise systems, the expert team m-EMCS continued working during 2019 to

create a

mobile application for excise movement controls

(for further details on m-EMCS expert

team, see section VI-

“Member States joint actions in the area of IT”).



Background EMCS/SEED information:

The

EMCS

is a computerised system for monitoring the movement of excise goods under duty

suspension within the EU. It records, in real-time, the movement between authorised consignors and

consignees, of alcohol, tobacco, and energy products for which excise duties have still to be paid.

More than 100 000 economic operators currently use the system, and it is a crucial tool for

information exchange and cooperation between Member States.

SEED (System of Exchange of Excise Data)

is a register of economic operators, part of which

traders can consult online, to see whether a given excise number is valid and what categories of

goods the operator in question is authorised to trade. It is a core component of the EMCS, as it

allows Member States' administrations to validate authorisations of traders before giving them

permission to move any excise goods under duty suspension.



The

Transaction Network Analysis (TNA)

Operational Team started using TNA in productions in

May 2019, focusing on Data Process. The Beta release for

the Member States’

users officially

opened to users in October. Last version of TNA was deployed in production in December.

Background TNA information:

The

Transaction Network Analysis (TNA)

is a custom built software to facilitate information

exchange and data analysis within Eurofisc network, whose core software was developed by the

Commission.

This new electronic tool is expected to detect VAT fraud at an early stage: TNA is an automated data

mining tool that interconnects Member States’ tax IT platforms; in this way, cross-border

transaction

information can be quickly and easily accessed, and suspicious VAT fraud can be reported nearly in

real time.

Besides closer cooperation between the

EU’s network of anti-fraud experts (“Eurofisc”), when

analysing information on carousel VAT fraud, TNA also boosts cooperation and information

exchange between national tax officials. Eurofisc officials can now cross-check information against

criminal records, databases, and information held by Europol and OLAF.

The TNA was supported by the work of a Fiscalis expert team. See further details on the

TNA expert

team

under section VI - Member States joint actions in the area of IT.

–

Other IT systems

Blockchain

is one of the potentially foundational technologies identified by the Commission to enable the

Digital Single Market. After having started the Blockchain@TAXUD initiative in 2017, DG TAXUD evaluated

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further if this technology was suited for taxation (and customs) in collaboration with other Commission

services. Following a Proof of Concept launched at the end of 2018 involving 8 Member States, DG TAXUD

organised a training during the first quarter of 2019 regarding the deployment step. Later in the year, a

network involving 3 nodes from the participating Member States was successfully deployed.

VI - Member States joint actions in the area of IT

There

was an increase in the number of joint actions organised during 2019 under the objective “Implement,

improve, operate and support the European Information Systems for taxation”. This figure represents an

increase of 81% by comparison with 2018 (11 joint actions). These joint actions were mostly project groups,

working visits and workshops. In addition, different trainings activities in the area of IT were organised (see

Section 5.4 dedicated to the reinforced skills and competences of tax officials).

A number of

project groups

continued from earlier years. These included the IT Collaboration Catalyst

Group, the IT Infrastructure group, a project group on Blockchain technology and the IT systems trainings

project group. The project group on

Implementation of VAT e-commerce package

continued its work on

modernising VAT for cross-border B2C (business to consumer) e-Commerce with a view at simplifying the

obligations for traders not established in the Member State of consumption. In particular, the project group

focuses on the extension to all cross-border B2C transactions (goods and services) with big IT impacts: from

the Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) to the One Stop Shop (OSS).

Different new project groups were launched during 2019:



Direct Taxation Data Analysis Tool on

AEOI: the aim of the project is to build a data analysis tool

to support efficient use of DAC data in order to ensure tax compliance in cross-border situations, and

to reveal tax evasion or tax fraud.

Data Quality Community on AEOI:

the objective of this project group was to make an assessment

of the quality of AEOI data by all countries on a common, comparable basis, which will be used to

identify sources of low quality data. On such quantitative basis, corrective actions can be taken at

national level. The expected business outcome on the medium-term is a global improvement of

quality of AEOI data collected from domestic sources and thereafter being exchanged between

national tax administrations, and hence a higher chance to detect fraudulent activities.

Data Protection Compliance Network

(project group common to both Customs and Fiscalis

programmes): the project group aims at exchanging knowledge and experience between data

protection experts in Member States and in the Commission and at identifying problem areas,

discuss options and provide solutions for issues emerging during the data protection compliance

activities.



Five

working visits

were organised regarding EIS for taxation, involving seven Member States and covering

aspects such as data analytics, new audit techniques, behavioural insights and transfer pricing methods.

Three

workshops

took place during 2019 in the EIS area. One of them, which took place in October

(Brussels), brought together 22 participants to discuss about data protection compliance of the trans-

European IT systems for taxation.

Expert teams

represent a recent tool from the Fiscalis 2020 programme toolbox supporting enhanced

operational collaboration, either on a geographic or on a thematic basis. This tool allows willing Member

States to bring their cooperation to a next dimension of European integration at the policy implementation

level. The expert team approach allows taxation experts of Member States to have in depth cooperation on

operational issues, which go beyond the traditional means of cooperation to realise the pre-identified

objectives of a common long-term project.

In 2019, one new expert team was launched in the area of IT (Managed IT Collaboration 4), which will

extend its activities during 2020. The three existing expert teams (TNA, Mobile application for EMCS

Controls and Excise Duty Calculator development), continued with their work in 2019:



Managed IT Collaboration (MANITC 3)

expert team finished its activities in September 2019 and

renewed in October under the grant agreement of

MANITC 4.

The team runs for 18 months, ending

in March 2021. The objective of this expert team for MANITC is to pool EU Member States resources

to strategically and efficiently manage IT Collaboration initiatives in the field of taxation. In the

context of

“IT Collaboration”

the overall objective is the

joint implementation of IT systems, e.g. the

development and knowledge sharing of IT software, IT solutions, IT components or other things that

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support an IT solution. The suggested structured approach to IT collaboration aims for maximum

ownership of Member States. By supporting not only the activities of

FPG/037 IT Collaboration

Catalyst Group

but also Member States actively involved in IT Collaborative projects, MANITC aims

to increase the number of new IT Collaboration projects towards the common vision of making the

approach the new standard way of doing IT in the taxation area.

Participating countries: Romania, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Portugal, Finland

Duration: 18 months.



TNA

expert team: the objective is to

group EU Member States’

resources to assist the Commission

in the development of Transaction Network Analysis (TNA) software. TNA is a custom built software

to facilitate information exchange and data analysis within Eurofisc network, whose core software is

to be developed by the Commission. The expert team performs development tasks that require

access to Eurofisc operational data. Those tasks include the development of algorithms to be

applied to Eurofisc operational data. In addition, the expert team performs testing of TNA software

when access to operational data is needed, as well as such tasks as user management, usage

supervision and user support.

The expected results of the TNA expert team are: (1) the initial set of algorithms that will be used by

TNA, (2) test of TNA using operational data have been executed in accordance with testing

scenarios and (3) TNA becoming operational.

The expert team works under the guidance received from Eurofisc Working Field 6 where strategic

business decision regarding TNA will be taken. The expert team is accountable and will report to the

Eurofisc Working Field 6 and to DG TAXUD.

Participating countries: Belgium, Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands

Duration: 18 months.



Mobile application for EMCS Controls (m-EMCS)

expert team: its objective is to provide

administration officers with a mobile solution allowing them to consult an electronic administrative

document (e-AD) and, when applicable, generate a control report during a road control or any other

control activity that occurs outside of their office. For example, during a road control, m-ECS will

allow officers to consult an e-AD, check its content against the goods on the truck and, if any

irregularity is found, to report it immediately, using the same instrument that will be able to build a

control report based on the e-AD, store it and disseminate it.

The development of such solution required a focused and dedicated approach, which cannot be

ensured by a Fiscalis project group, hence the need to set up an expert team. A group of Member

States, as part of the expert team for MANITC II, prepared

the expert team’s

implementation plan

and specifications.

Participating countries: Belgium, Latvia, Portugal, Italy

Duration: 32 months.



Excise Duty Calculator (EDC)

expert team: the objective of this expert team is to provide traders

and tax administration officers with a tool to automatically calculate excise duty for goods in

movements under duty suspension in the EU. This will allow, for example, an operator to know the

amount of tax for a specific excise product in another Member State by entering the minimal inputs

and obtaining automatically the result without any need of manual calculation or documentation

research.

A group of Member States worked first in a Fiscalis Project Group FPG/072 proposed by France,

and later as part of the expert team for MANITC II to initiate the development of such Excise Duty

Calculator.

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Participating countries: France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal

Duration: 36 months.

The stakeholders’ assessment of

the IT related joint actions was in general terms very positive in 2019 and

well above target levels. There is however a big decrease in the indicator measuring the level of

achievement of results as reported by action managers: from 4 in 2018 (maximum score) to 2.8 in 2019. The

reason for such a drop are two multilateral controls for which the level was reported as 0 for very concrete

reasons . If we disregard these two replies to the Action Follow-up Form, the value of the indicator becomes

3.5 (above target and similar to previous years). The specific Action Follow-up Form for working visits shows

the same level of achievement of results (3.5) regarding working visits organised in relation to EIS.

Participants’ feedback on 'fulfilled results', 'met

expectations' and 'usefulness' continues to be very positive

for events organised under this objective, with rates similar to previous years and well above targets.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Extent to which JAs (that sought

to contribute to the availability,

reliability

EIS)

and/or

quality

their

(specific) Union components of

have

achieved

intended result(s), as reported

by action managers: average

score on the scale of 0 (not

achieved) to 4 (fully achieved)

Participants’ views on the extent

to which a JA (that sought to

contribute to the availability,

reliability

and/or

quality

(specific) Union components of

EIS) (has) achieved its intended

result(s) (percentage of those

who replied 'fully' or 'to large

extent')

Participants’ views on the extent

to which an event met their

expectations

large extent')

Participants’

usefulness

(percentage

views

those

the

event

who

(percentage

those who replied 'fully' or 'to

AFF

(excl.

Working

Visits)

2.54

(2014)

>3.00

2.54

3.44

3.54

3.55

4.00

2.80

EAF

91.2%

(2014)

>80.0%

91.2%

97.5%

94.8%

97.1%

97.7%

95.8%

EAF

92.6%

(2014)

>80.0%

92.6%

95.9%

92.8%

96.4%

93.5%

95.1%

EAF

97.3%

(2014)

>80.0%

97.3%

99.2%

98.4%

99.3%

98.1%

99.0%

replied 'very useful' or 'useful')

5.3

Objective 2: support administrative cooperation activities

Under this objective, we look at the different activities that supported administrative cooperation between

national tax authorities. Administrative cooperation is of vital importance as no single Member State can

In one of the Multilateral Controls, the action manager reported

that the lack of results were “Because

the case is not yet closed and the facts

of the

case still have to be clarified”. It was also reported that the support received by the programme support team and the host country

were

satisfactory. In the other Multilateral Control, the action manager reported that the results were not achievement at the time of reporting (i.e.

March 2020) as the kick off meeting was postponed to April 2020, i.e. there was still nothing to report on.

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manage its internal taxation system without receiving information from other Member States. Administrative

cooperation is facilitated by both joint actions and the use of the European Information Systems.

Joint actions linked to support administrative cooperation represented the biggest number of joint actions

under the programme in 2019: there were in total 346

joint actions

organised under this objective, 15 more

than in 2018. The most numerous actions were multilateral controls (192), followed by PAOE (80), working

visits (27), project groups and administrative cooperation activities (19 each) and workshops (9). The

assessment of action managers indicates that business owners are satisfied with the overall progress, with

an average result of 3.18 (scale from 0 to 4) showing that the results are assessed as largely/fully achieved.

The specific Action Follow-up Form for working visits shows even a higher level of achievement of results (4,

the maximum) regarding working visits organised in relation to support administrative cooperation activities.

Participants' feedback on the 'achievement of results', 'usefulness' and 'met expectations' have been also

very since the launch of the programme, with values throughout the period well above baselines and targets.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Extent to which JAs (that sought to

enhance administrative cooperation)

have

achieved

their

intended

action

result(s),

reported

AFF

2.77

(2014)

> 3.00

2.77

3.18

3.06

3.05

3.71

3.18

managers: average score on the

scale of 0 (not achieved) to 4 (fully

achieved)

Participants’ views on the extent to

which a JA (that sought to enhance

administrative

achieved

its

cooperation)

intended

(has)

results

EAF

87.6%

(2014)

>80.0%

87.6%

93.1%

93.4%

96.1%

96.6%

92.1%

(percentage of those who replied

'fully' or 'to large extent')

Participants’ views on the extent to

which

event

met

their

expectations (percentage of those

who replied 'fully' or 'to large extent')

Participants’ views on the usefulness

of an event (percentage of those

who replied 'very useful' or 'useful')

EAF

95.3%

(2014)

> 80%

95.3%

93.13%

96.63%

98.76%

98.68%

96.78%

EAF

86.2%

(2014)

> 80%

86.2%

93.13%

93.03%

95.03%

94.48%

91.83%

The most numerous joint actions were

MLCs.

Multilateral control means a co-ordinated control of the tax

liability of one or more related taxable persons, organised by two or more participating countries, which

include at least one Member State and which have common or complementary interests. The Fiscalis 2020

programme supports MLCs by providing an organisational, methodological and financial framework for their

implementation by having preparatory and follow-up meetings under the programme, which allow

coordinating the actual audits that are carried out by national officials on their own territory. According to the

results of the mid-term evaluation of the programme, MLCs are one of the most popular action types, with

over 5 000 officials taking part in them in 2014-2019 (of which 1140 in the last year). Multilateral controls

have consistently led to recovered revenue and increased compliance, which provides ample evidence that

practical administrative cooperation not only takes place, but that it is also effective.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Total number of MLCs operational

ART

76 (2014)

Grow

113

131

161

179

198

This indicator comprises MLCs organised under all operational objectives of the programme.

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Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number

Member

States

ART

23 (2014)

Grow

participating in MLCs

Number of Member States initiating

MLCs

Degree

which

results

were

AFF

2.78

(2014)

>3.00

2.78

3.08

2.70

2.71

3.42

2.40

ART

16 (2014)

Grow

achieved, as assessed by the MLC

coordinator

In 2019, we can notice a decrease in the number of Member States that initiated MLCs. This fact did not

seem to have any impact in the number of MLCs conducted (increase by comparison with 2018) or in the

number of Member States that participated in the MLCs (overall stable).

For further details on MLCs, please see the case study on section 6.4.

Indicator

Number of presences in the offices

and

participation

administrative

ART

49 (2015)

enquiries

Source

Baseline

Target

Grow or

stable

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

The Fiscalis 2020 programme introduced a new category of joint actions aimed at supporting administrative

cooperation, the presences in the offices and participation in administrative enquiries (PAOE). In practice,

this means that the tax inspectors from one Member State can be present in another Member State when

colleagues from this other Member State carry out their duties in administrative offices or during

administrative enquiries. This can be extremely useful, in particular where there are indications of

irregularities or large-scale cross-border fraud in one or more Member States; in cases whose complexity

makes the presence of officials desirable; or in cases for which the prescription period is due to expire and

where the presence of officials can speed up the enquiry.

There were 80 ongoing PAOE activities in 2019, which represents a slight decrease from the previous year.

When comparing the data with those of 2018 we should take into account that the high number of PAOE in

2018 was not only caused by a high number of PAOE initiatives during the year, but also by the fact that it

was decided to create specific ART codes for each of the companies covered.

Finland, Latvia and the UK launched most actions. In particular, Finland launched in 2019 different PAOE to

investigate permanent establishments in its country. For instance, Finnish tax officials visit The Netherlands

to investigate a Dutch company that sells cut flowers and plants to Finnish customers (online or directly from

the company’s special

built lorries when these lorries were coming to Finland). Therefore, a permanent

establishment could likely be determined to exist in Finland. The company in question, despite being VAT

registered for years in Finland, had an outstanding tax debt of more than one million

€

to the Finnish Tax

Administration. Other example of PAOEs during 2018 cover different topics such as transfer pricing, missing

traders, constructions workers or online betting.

Operative interventions in the form of multilateral controls and PAOEs are of great importance when

pursuing international tax fraud, evasion and avoidance in an increasingly globalised world. The legal,

methodological and practical framework, as well as the financial support from the programme, enable

administrations to conduct cross-border investigations and controls, and build cases in cooperation with

each other. There is a strong sense of these actions being based on a clear necessity for EU intervention

(mainly, in order to provide the legal framework for exchanges) and a focus on operative solutions to

problems, according to the conclusions of the Mid-term Evaluation of the Fiscalis 2020 programme.

Amongst the project groups, 7 were dedicated to different aspects of Eurofisc, a network of national EU

Member States’ analysts working in different areas of fraud risk. It was set up in 2010 to improve the

capacity of Member States to combat organised VAT fraud, especially carousel fraud. Eurofisc allows

Member States to exchange early warnings on businesses suspected of being involved in carousel fraud.

The first of the project groups organised under Fiscalis 2020 relates to the practical functioning and

operation of the Eurofisc Group as well as the work to be carried out within the different working fields. There

are in addition 6 project groups, one for each of the working fields of Eurofisc: missing trader intracommunity

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fraud; cars-boats-planes; customs procedures and VAT fraud in intracommunity trade; VAT fraud

observatory; control of e-commerce and TNA (Transaction Network Analysis). In addition to the above-

mentioned existing project groups, a new project group was launched in 2019 dealing with Eurofisc

governance.

Another important way of enhancing the administrative cooperation between tax authorities is through the

EMCS - a computerised system for monitoring the movement of excise goods under duty suspension in the

EU. It records, in real-time, the movement of alcohol, tobacco, and energy products for which excise duties

have still to be paid.

At the level of usage performance, if we compare the operational statistics from 2018 and 2019 we can

observe the following:



Figure 10 shows an improvement in the number of EMCS Phase 3 Core Business Messages. In

short, the following graph indicates that 6 951 852 EMCS Core Business Messages were processed

during 2019 (on average 265 180 per month) under control of the EMCS system. The number

increased by 0.71% compared to 2018. The highest number of messages (649 654) was observed in

November 2018.

Figure 10: Evolution in the Number of EMCS Core Business Messages (2018

–

2019)



Figure 11 shows the total average response time between the submission of movements and their

corresponding Report of Receipts. The selection of the movements that are taken into consideration

for the average response time is based on the submission time of the Report of Receipt. The total

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average response time during the last 24 months is 8.27 days. The total average response time was

stable during 2019 with an average monthly value of 8.32 days.

Figure 11: Total Average Response time (2018– 2019)



Figure 12 shows the trend on the number of EMCS Follow-up and Collaboration Messages during

2018 and 2019. These requests are used to request information about movements and / or individual

traders, as well as access to archived messages held in another Member State.

During 2017, the usage of the Administrative Cooperation Request messages decreased by 9.75%

compared to 2016. The usage of the Administrative Cooperation Request messages decreased by

13.15% compared to 2018.

Figure 12: Evolution of EMCS Follow-up and Collaboration Messages

–

Administrative cooperation

messages (2018

–

2019)

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

In the area of

e-Forms exchanged

(number of messages exchanged by national tax authorities via

the taxation mailboxes on CCN), the numbers of these messages for direct taxation in 2019

increased 44% by comparison with 2018. Figure 13a below provides further details regarding:

MUTASSIST: mailbox used for the exchange of forms between Member States in the field of

Direct Taxation under DAC.

DIRECT TAXATION: Exchange of information concerning the Savings Directive

Figure 13a: CCN/Mail3

–

exchanges per quarter (Q1/2018 - Q4/2019) for direct taxation



Figure 13b below shows the usage pf CCN/Mail3 for indirect taxation, in particular regarding:

CLO FOR VIES: Central Liaison Office for VAT Information Exchange System

VAT ON e-SERVICES: Exchange of the information related to VAT on e-Services

MLC: Exchange of information for VAT-related Multi-Lateral Controls

MOSS: Exchange of information related to MOSS

RECOVERY: Exchange of Recovery e-Forms and related information

TAX AUTOMATIC: Automatic exchanges and Structured Automatic exchanges (Information on

non-established traders, new means of transport, distance selling not subject to VAT)

- TAX FRAUD: Exchange of e-Forms related to specific cases of suspected fraud. Mailbox used

by EUROFISC

- TAX SERVICE: Exchange of VAT Algorithms and other IT related information

- VAT REFUND: Exchange of information related to VAT Refund

The number of messages exchanged via these mailboxes was decreased by 31.49% (452 868 in 2019

compared to 344 407 messages in 2018). Recovery e-Forms messages account for 63.85% of the total

messages exchanged via the Taxation mailboxes during 2019.

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According to figures showed in Figures 13a and 13b, it is observed that there is no specific trend or a

recognizable pattern regarding the way that messages fluctuate over time.

Figure 13b: CCN/Mail3

–

Exchanges per quarter (Q1/2018

–

Q4/2019) for indirect taxation



When it comes to the

VAT Information Exchange Systems (VIES),

the table below shows an

increase on the total number of various types of VIES messages, i.e. Registry, Turnover Data (TOD),

and Member State Warning (MSW), by comparison with the previous year. The total number of VIES

messages (VIES on the Web messages included) was almost 2 098 million in 2019, meaning that an

increase of 239 million messages representing 12.87% is observed compared to the 1 859 million

messages in 2018.

Table on the evolution over the last two years of VIES Messages per quarter, in millions.

Type of

Messages

Registry

Messages

TOD

Messages

MSW

Messages

VoW

Messages

Total

Number

Q1'2018

119.1

27.7

138.2

402.2

687.3

Q2'2018

111.4

22.4

125.9

408.8

668.5

Q3'2018

117.6

19.0

112.7

521.3

770.6

Q4'2018

136.6

20.9

118.7

526.8

803.0

Q1'2019

158.3

23.6

120.2

439.2

741.3

Q2'2019

220.3

26.3

88.5

452.9

788.0

Q3'2019

142.8

18.4

70.2

533.2

764.6

Q4'2019

152.1

23.4

133.9

673.2

982.6

This number is not the actual traffic Member State Administrations are experiencing, since the number from blocked IP addresses is also

included. The number is generated from TSS in consolidated mode and no distinction is possible at the moment.

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In the table, the types of messages relate to:



Registry Messages: the trader VAT number is checked against the construction rule of the

destination Member State

TOD Messages: each Member State must collect on a monthly basis (or less frequently) the

recapitulative statements issued by intra-community suppliers on its territory. The monthly

recapitulative statement of a given supplier corresponds to the total value of his supplies to each of

his purchasers in any other Member State, together with their intra-community VAT identification

numbers

MSW: after reception of an enquiry from a Member State Administration-A, the Member State

Administration-B may reply with a Member State warning message notifying the Member State

Administration-A that the enquiry cannot be satisfied. The message includes the type of the enquiry

it replies to.

Objective 3: reinforce skills and competences of taxation officials



5.4

Under this objective, we are measuring indicators related to the use of the different types of training activities

provided under the programme: the e-Learning courses and the IT trainings for European Information

Systems. There are also other types of activities with a learning dimension organised under the programme,

such as seminars, workshops and working visits. However, they are assessed in relation to their primary

business objective and reported on in other chapters.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

value

2015

value

2016

value

2017

value

2018

2019

Number of EU eLearning

modules produced

Number of EU eLearning

modules

participating

modules

country)

used

countries

each

6 (2013)

Grow or

stable

192

210

(2014)

Grow

170

123

165

182

(combined number of all

Number of tax officials

trained

using

common training material

4 862

(2013)

Grow or

stable

compared

baseline

4 171

5 188

4 421

32 908

15 739

53 845

Number of times publically

available

eLearning

3 609

(2014)

Grow or

stable

4 332

3 416

18 456

8 592

6 772

7 344

This indicator counts the modules as English (master version) and further localised versions in EU languages as requested by participating

The indication of '36 eLearning developments' in 2017 relates to re-development and updating of the EU VAT FRAUD course (in 12 languages)

The indication of 192 eLearning modules produced in 2018 relates to the technical migration of the complete VAT eLearning Programme (12

The indication of 210 eLearning modules produced in 2019 relates to the Brexit compliant update of the complete VAT eLearning Programme

countries, as the resources needed to develop each localised version request approx. 60% of the resources spend for the original English version.

and the production of further national language versions of the EU VAT EU eLearning programme.

modules) and the migration as well of the languages versions of each modules (available in 16 languages).

(12 modules) and the languages versions of each module (available in 17 languages) and the content and technical update of 2 EMCS modules

(EMCS Core module and 5 modules of EMCS Business Programme).

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Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

value

2015

value

2016

value

2017

value

2018

2019

modules were downloaded

from Europa.eu website

compared

baseline

Average

training

quality

67.0

(2015)

>70.0

73.0

67.0

70.8

75.1

77.3

73.0

score by tax officials

The Fiscalis 2020 programme finances the development of

eLearning courses

on topics of common

interest in collaboration with tax administrations and representatives of trade. Such courses support the

implementation of EU legislation and ensure the dissemination of good taxation practices throughout the

European Union.

In total, the number of officials trained has increased, showing the great impact of the redeveloped and

updated VAT Programme for the administrations. The training quality score of the EU Tax eLearning

portfolio, regarding technology, content and methodology is on average 73 points out of 100 (50-75 means

“good” and 75-100 means “very good”)

demonstrating a good appreciation.

Traders and the public, who can download EU Tax eLearning courses freely from EUROPA website,

downloaded EU Tax eLearning courses in total 7 344 times and reported 63 112 trainees on the EU tax

courses. This represents a considerable number given that the EU VAT eLearning programme and other

courses have been already in the portfolio for a few years.

In 2019, in particular the EU VAT eLearning programme consisting of 12 eLearning modules (VAT

Introduction, VAT Territory, VAT Taxable Person, VAT Transaction, VAT Place of Taxable Transactions,

VAT Digital Services and MOSS, VAT Chargeable Event and Taxable Amount, VAT Rates, VAT

Exemptions, VAT Right to Deduct, VAT Refund and VAT Obligations) was extensively used by national

administrations and economic operators. In the different modules, the quality scores are similar in content,

methodology and technology. The technology used is highly appreciated this year. The effort for making the

eLearning courses compatible with different work environments and available in different devices and the

easiness in using the modules have been appreciated by the users.

In 2018 an EU-wide survey on Human Capacity Building Maturity in national tax administrations was

performed and resulted by end 2019 in the availability of the

first common EU TAX Competency

Framework (TaxCompEU),

that provides national tax administrations with a common reference standard for

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optimal staff performance, based on identified common tax values, operational tax competencies,

professional and management competencies and tax career paths. Implementation in national tax

administrations’ HR structures will be further accompanied and supported as of 2020.

For further details on

the EU Tax Competency Framework (TaxCompEU), see case study in section 6.5.

Specifically in the

area of IT

, during 2019 there were 28 training sessions organised by DG TAXUD for

national tax officials on how to use various European tax and excise IT Systems, such as CCN CSI, CCN2,

EMCS, recovery e-Forms Central Application and TNA. This number represents an increase of 33% over the

previous year. The same increase rate (33%) applied to the number of participants. These IT training

sessions received very positive feedback from the participants in terms of their usefulness and meeting the

participants’ expectations, very well above

target.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of IT training

sessions organised for

given

refund,

MOSS )

Number of tax officials

trained in IT trainings

systems

components (e.g. VAT

EMCS,VIES,

ART

12 (2014)

Grow or

stable

compared to

baseline

ART

106

(2014)

Grow or

stable

compared to

baseline

106

136

225

324

226

301

Percentage

tax

EAF

87.3%

(2014)

>80.0%

87.3%

93.0%

95.0%

95.9%

95.0%

96.3%

officials who found that

the IT training met their

expectations (percentage

those

who

replied

'fully' or 'to large extent')

Percentage

training

tax

useful

those

EAF

95.8%

(2014)

>80.0%

95.8%

98.0%

97.5%

96.6%

97.6%

officials who found the IT

(percentage

or 'useful')

who replied 'very useful'

5.5

Objective 4: enhance the understanding and implementation of Union law in the field of

taxation

There were 43

joint actions

operational under this objective in 2019, 4 more than in 2018 although still

below the baseline (46). When looking at the number of actions, we should take into account that, while

earlier years had more actions in total, and more actions specifically addressing concrete issues, in the last

years many actions were to a greater extent organised in broader projects covering themes rather than

specific interventions. Content-wise, the projects are usually multi-annual rather than annual, as the actions

and processes they cover stretch over more than one year. This may lead to less new initiatives and in a

decrease in the total number of actions for a specific year.

Out of the 43 joint actions, 25 were

working visits,

with Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia

being highly involved as the sending administrations.

Nine

project groups

were equally active during the year under this objective. Four of them were launched in

2019, dealing with the classification and taxation of (new) tobacco products, the provisions for small and

Training sessions in the area of IT are organised in the form of Project Groups.

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medium producers of alcohol beverages, losses due to the nature of the goods and the European network of

national promoters to support tax education for young people. The already existing project groups on

methodologies to assess the revenue impact of the Corporate Income Tax reforms, the Implementation of

Art. 10 of the Directive on Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, tax cooperation with third countries and

OLAF/Europol exchanges of information under Regulation 904/2010 (Eurofisc).

Eight

workshops

were organised during the year covering different areas. Regarding VAT, a series of

workshops took place on VAT case-law, VAT split payment, transaction-based VAT reporting as means of

fraud proofing the definitive VAT system and VAT in the digital age. Two workshops were organised

regarding the UK withdrawal of the EU (one on VAT related matters and the other on excise taxation). The

joint workshop Fiscalis2020-Customs2020 "Preparation

of Explanatory Notes on the VAT e-commerce

Directive

” was

organised in September 2019, in Madrid (Spain). Article 4 of this Directive stipulates that

Member States shall adopt and publish, by 31 December 2020, the laws, regulations and administrative

provisions necessary to comply with all new rules contained in the VAT e-Commerce package, which will

enter into force on January 2021. These rules target distance sales of goods both within the EU and for

small parcels being imported into the EU and sold to final consumers within the EU. They also entail

provisions for making marketplaces deemed suppliers under certain conditions. After the adoption of the

legislation, discussions with Member States were conducted to obtain a common understanding of the

implementing rules (workshop held in Malta in 2018). Given the complexity of the subject matter, it became

important in 2019 to prepare Explanatory Notes in cooperation with Member States and businesses by

means of a workshop.

Union Law and Policy Application and Implementation Index

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Extent to which JAs (that sought to

enhance

the

understanding

and

implementation of Union law in the

field of taxation) have achieved their

intended result(s), as reported by

action managers: average score on

the scale of 0 (not achieved) to 4

(fully achieved)

Participants’ views on the extent to

which a JA (that sought to enhance

the

understanding

and

implementation of Union law in the

field of taxation) (has) achieved its

intended

extent')

Participants’ views on the extent to

which

event

met

their

expectations (percentage of those

who replied 'fully' or 'to large extent')

Participants’

views

the

results

(percentage

those who replied 'fully' or 'to large

AFF

2.66

(2014)

>3.00

2.66

2.87

3.75

3.00

3.20

EAF

93.5%

(2014)

>80.0

93.5%

91.6%

85.4%

85.5%

89.0%

96.6%

EAF

94.5%

(2014)

>80.0

94.5%

92.7%

86.6%

84.7%

88.0%

94.9%

EAF

100.0%

(2014)

>80.0

100.0

97.6%

98.0%

98.1%

99.2%

usefulness of an event (percentage

of those who replied 'very useful' or

'useful')

Council Directive (EU) 2017/2455 amending Directive 2006/112/EC and Directive 2009/132/EC as regards certain value added tax obligations

for supplies of services and distance sales of goods, adopted on 5 December 2017.

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Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of actions (JAs) that have

supported or facilitated to enhance

the

understanding

and

implementation of Union law in the

field of taxation

Number of recommendations (R) /

guidelines (G)

objective)

/ other outputs (O)

issued further to a JA (under this

ART

(2014)

Grow

stable

compar

ed to

baselin

averag

e at

least

one

output

per

action

AFF

2014:

0 (R)

0 (G)

15 (O)

0 (R)

0 (G)

15 (O)

11 (R)

0 (G)

6 (O)

0 (R)

1 (G)

5 (O)

1 (R)

0 (G)

8 (O)

0 (R)

0 (G)

6 (O)

0 (R)

0 (G)

6 (O)

The Union Law and Policy Application and Implementation Index provides a comprehensive overview of the

performance of the joint actions organised under this objective. The main indicator relates to the level of

achievement of expected results, as they were identified prior to the activity and later evaluated by their

action managers. The obtained value of 3.2 (on a range between 0 and 4) indicates that the action

managers are satisfied with the progress obtained by the activities organised. This figure represents a slight

improvement from 2018 and keeps the overall tendency initiated in 2016 by comparison with baseline and

the first two years of the programme. The feedback provided by action managers specifically for working

visits (which follow an independent survey) supports this positive assessment, with a value of 3.3 regarding

the achievement of results.

Such a positive assessment is also confirmed by participants to joint actions, who have expressed very high

levels of satisfaction with the activities in terms of ‘meeting their expectations’

94.9% (more than 6

percentage points than in 2018). The number of officials participating to these activities who found them to

be professionally 'useful' or 'very useful' has also increased in 2019, together with the number of participants

for which the intended results were achieved to a fully/large extent (96.6%, the highest result since the

launch of the programme).

The output indicators included in this group relate to the number of recommendations, guidelines and other

types of outputs produced by the joint actions organised under this objective. It is worth clarifying that the

recommendations and guidelines are counted here individually, rather than by the number of documents

containing them. Under 'other outputs', we count studies, reports, measures, presentations and other

reported types of outputs. There has been a significant fluctuation in this indicator between the three years,

both positive and negative. Fluctuations in these indicators, however, need to be interpreted carefully, as not

every recommendation or guideline is equally important. Furthermore, the number of outputs depends

largely on the business need and the type of the subject matter addressed by the programme action. With

these considerations in mind, it is difficult to set concrete targets for this indicator. For this reason, the initial

target at the launch of the programme in 2014 was to have annual increase/stability in the score. A possible

approach to a more concrete target could be to rather set a minimum target of at least one output per action

in a given year. Such a target would demonstrate that on average all programme activities produce outputs.

With 6 outputs produced in 2019, we can see that the target has not yet been achieved, and that there is

stability in the results if we compare it with previous years.

5.6

Objective 5: support the improvement of administrative procedures and the sharing of good

administrative practices

The improvement of administrative procedures and the sharing of good administrative practices take place

at several levels in the programme. It is mainly achieved through joint actions, the European Information

Systems and the online collaboration platform PICS.

Excluding working visits and expert teams.

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The number of

joint actions

under this objective, with 208 joint actions operational in 2019, was above

baseline but still decreasing since the peak number reached in 2017. As was the case under other

operational objectives, we should take into account that, while earlier years had more actions in total, and

more actions specifically addressing concrete issues, in the last years many actions were to a greater extent

organised in broader projects covering themes rather than specific interventions. Content-wise, the projects

are usually multi-annual rather than annual, as the actions and processes they cover stretch over more than

one year. This may lead to less new initiatives and in a decrease in the total number of actions for a specific

year.

By far, the vast majority of actions organised were

working visits

(171), with the Czech Republic, Portugal

and Spain being particularly proactive as sending organisations. There were also nine

workshops

organised during 2019. These workshops dealt, amongst others, with withholding tax, risk management for

IT taxation systems, tax residence issues and tax representatives for VAT.

16 project groups were active during 2019 under this objective. All of them continued their activities from

previous years, focusing on topics such as compliance risk management in tax administrations, data

governance and information exchange from digital/platform economy for taxation purposes or data analytics.

The project group dedicated to the

Strategic dialogue and cooperation among Heads of tax

administrations of the EU (TADEUS),

launched in 2018, continued its activities during 2019. TADEUS is a

cooperation network for the EU Member States’ heads of tax administrations and the Commission. This new

form of cooperation at senior management level allows to better address common challenges faced by EU

countries in today’s era of globalisation and digitalisation. For instance, TADEUS endorsed in September

2019 the findings of the ‘Digital and data’ project –

about possible tax reporting requirements for the sharing

and gig economy. For further details on TADEUS, see case study in section 6.3.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of actions under the

programme organised in this

area

ART

105

(2014)

Stable

or grow

comp. to

baseline

105

225

251

284

273

208

Extent to which JAs (that

sought to extend working

practices

administrative

procedures/guidelines in a

given

area

other

participating countries) have

achieved their result(s), as

reported

action

managers: average score on

the scale of 0 (not achieved)

to 4 (fully achieved)

Participants’ views on the

extent to which a JA (that

sought to extend working

practices

administrative

procedures/guidelines in a

given

area

its

other

participating countries) (has)

achieved

result(s)

intended

(percentage

and/or

AFF

2.36

(2014)

> 3.00

2.36

3.58

3.16

3.15

3,30

3.55

EAF

95.3%

(2014)

>80.0%

95.3%

96.1%

90.1%

94.2%

98.0%

94.7%

those who replied 'fully' or 'to

large extent')

Participants’ views on the

extent to which an event met

EAF

93.2%

(2014)

>80.0%

93.2%

94.7%

92.3%

93.5%

92.2%

92.8%

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Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

their

expectations

(percentage of those who

replied 'fully' or 'to large

extent')

Participants’ views on the

usefulness

replied

'useful')

Number of guidelines (G)

and recommendations (R)

issued

participating

following

countries in their national

administrations

this objective)

Number of best practices /

administrative

procedures

(AP) developed/shared

AFF

17 (2014)

programme activities (under

EAF

2014:

63 (G)

134 (R)

average

at least

one

output

per

action

63 (G)

134 (R)

34 (G)

79 (R)

36 (G)

69 (R)

83 (G)

154 (R)

31 (G)

88 (R)

65 (G)

101 (R)

event

(percentage of those who

'very

useful'

EAF

96.8%

(2014)

>80.0%

96.8%

99.0%

97.9%

97.4%

98.0%

98.1%

At the level of achievement of results of joint actions under this objective, the action managers have given a

very high grade (3.55) from a range between 0 and 4. The feedback provided by action managers

specifically for working visits (which follow an independent survey) supports this positive assessment, with a

value of 3.61 on the achievement of results.

On the participants' side, we can see that their perception of the achievement of results (94.7%

replied “fully”

and “to a large extent”), the

fulfilment of expectations (92.8%) and their perceived usefulness (98.1%) of the

programme activities organised under this objective remained at high levels, with slight fluctuations when

compared with the values of 2018.

The number of outputs (guidelines and recommendations) issued by participating countries in their national

administrations during 2019 (166), represent a considerable increase from 2018 (119). As previously

explained, fluctuations in these indicators need to be interpreted carefully, as not every recommendation or

guideline is equally important. Furthermore, the number of outputs depends largely on the business need

and the subject addressed by the programme action. In the case of working practices / administrative

procedures developed, the number continues to decrease after the peak reached in 2017.

Excluding working visits and expert teams

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Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Percentage of participants

disseminated

practice/administrative

procedure/guideline

that

EAF

96.7%

(2014)

>90.0%

96.7%

94.0%

95.8%

94.8%

94.3%

94.7%

working

developed/shared with the support

of the programme in their national

administration

objective)

Percentage of participants which

declare

that

administrative

procedure/working

practice/guideline

developed/shared

their

national

under

the

programme led to a change in

administration’s

(under

this

working

objective)

practices

EAF

76.3%

(2014)

>70.0%

76.3%

70.8%

76.0%

73.9%

85.6%

84.7%

(under

this

Besides measuring the number of outputs, we also look at their dissemination and use in the national

administrations. The dissemination of programme outputs by the participants is high, with similar levels to

2018: more than 94%of the participants declaring to have distributed programme outputs nationally. We also

asked the participants whether these outputs have led to any change in the national administrations' working

practices, and here more than 84% answered positively, citing one or more of the following changes in the

national administrations: increased knowledge of colleagues, improved working practices/administrative

procedures and improved tools.

Indicator

Source

Baseline

Target

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of face to face

meetings

(total

for

the

programme)

ART

443

(2013)

Grow

stable

265

551

552

563

556

590

compared to

baseline

Number

collaboration

(PICS)

platform)

Number

(total

on-line

groups

for

the

110

(2013)

Grow

199

261

301

277

340

348

downloaded

13 564

(2013)

Grow

stable

73 200

116 538

96 062

104 941

92 500

160 648

files from PICS (total for

the platform)

compared to

baseline

Number of uploaded files

on PICS (total for the

platform)

3 445

(2013)

Grow

stable

5 521

11 177

7 807

7 184

7 887

9 455

compared to

baseline

In the area of

online collaboration,

we are looking at the use of the Programme Information and

Collaboration Space (PICS). This platform is used by many DG TAXUD and national customs officials to

facilitate the running of joint actions, but also for other, non-programme related collaboration needs and

knowledge sharing in communities of practice. We can see that the total number of online collaboration

groups on the platform remained overall stable in 2019 (348 groups in total). In relation to the number of new

users that signed up to PICS, there is a clear trend since 2014, with an annual increase of approx. 1 000

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new users (in particular for 2019, there were 1 237 new users). In terms of file sharing, both the number of

downloaded and uploaded files increased considerable during 2019: 73.6% more of downloaded files and

19.8% more of uploaded files.

In addition to online collaboration, Fiscalis 2020 programme also funded 590 face-to-face meetings during

the year (6% more than in 2018).

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6.1

PROGRESS IN RELATION TO THE ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME

Introduction

The AWP is a strategic, organisational and budgetary frame for the setting up of individual actions to be

financed by the Fiscalis 2020 programme. The Fiscalis 2020 Committee provides its formal opinion on the

AWP before its adoption by the Commission.

The core part of the AWP consists of several projects, which are grouped in function of the Fiscalis 2020

programme's specific objective area to which they will mainly contribute. All activities under the programme

are organised to support the achievement of the objectives of these projects. The list of AWP projects is

drawn up by DG TAXUD and the participating countries by taking into consideration the EU's policy priorities

in the area of taxation.

In the sections below, we have included four AWP projects corresponding to different specific objectives of

the programme, with additional information on their work and achievement during 2019. The selected

projects are representative of the type of AWP projects initiated under each part of the specific objective.

The summaries of projects have been provided by the action managers and highlight the main actions and

their results.

6.2

AWP project

–

Development, operation and maintenance of and horizontal support to

European Information Systems

Title of the case study:

DAC6: Trans-European System to support the exchange of information under Directive

2018/822/EU

Description:

Implementation of Trans-European Systems (TES) to support the exchange of information between the

Member States in the context of the Council Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) in the field of

direct taxation. In particular for DAC6 according to the Directive, Commission will adopt the following

practical arrangements:

1. Standard forms (including linguistic arrangements) that must be adopted by 30/6/2019

2. A secure Member State central directory that must be developed by 31/12/2019

Further information is available in the Europa Website .

The Commission supports administrative cooperation between Member States by providing reliable and

secure IT communication channels as well as any other IT solution needed for the exchange of

information between the Member States as well as between the Member States and third countries.

Furthermore, the Commission is monitoring the systematic and proper usage by the MSs of the provided

IT channels and solutions.

Expected results:

Provide Member States with the solutions and infrastructure needed for administrative cooperation, such

as electronic formats for exchange of information and secure channels of communication.

Improve the existing solutions for exchange of information and develop new ones according to the

evolution of the legislation, and promote the most effective use of the IT solutions.

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/tax-cooperation-control/administrative-cooperation/enhanced-administrative-cooperation-

field-direct-taxation_en

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As a result enhanced cross-border tax compliance within the EU and internationally should be achieved

via more and better (more secure and quicker) exchange of information.

Actions initiated under the programme:

During the reporting period, the Commission initiated and completed the development of the first release

of DAC6 Central Directory (DAC6 v1.0) that will enable as of 2020 the reporting of cross-border

reportable arrangements. The implementation of DAC6 CD, mandated by the Council’s Directive

2018/822/EU of 25 May 2018 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange

of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements, aims to improve

the functioning of the Internal Market by discouraging the use of aggressive cross-border tax-planning

arrangements.

Summary of main outcomes:

The main outcomes related to be above mentioned actions can be summarised as follows:



First version of DAC6 XML schema , that provides an electronic format to encode arrangements

in accordance to the provisions of the DAC6 Directive, provided to the Member States according

to the deadline imposed by the DAC6 Directive (30/6/2019).

First version of DAC6 CD (v1.1.0) released in production according to the deadline imposed by

the DAC6 Directive (31 December 2019).



6.3

AWP project

–

Well-functioning tax administrations in programme participating countries

Title of the case study:

Strategic dialogue and cooperation among Heads of Tax Administration of EU (TADEUS)

Description:

Tax administrations across the Union face similar challenges. TADEUS is the Tax Administration EU

Summit, which was set up in 2018 for allowing a strategic dialogue among the Heads of tax

administration in the EU Member States. TADEUS will contribute to the identification, development and

uptake of the best possible responses to shared issues at tax administration level. Ultimately, the

cooperation within TADEUS will bring benefits for each administration through improving their

functioning and performance.

The cooperation among the Heads of tax administration in the EU aims primarily to:



Facilitate the implementation of Union Law and improve compliance with it;



Facilitate EU coordinated positions among national tax administrations in international

fora;



Issue recommendation for policy makers at national or Union level for issues related to

challenges identified by tax administrations;



Establish a strategic umbrella to guide the work of existing and future Fiscalis and other

common activities.

TADEUS fosters a project–based approach with dedicated task forces with a strong focus on delivering

tangible results that support the work of all tax administrations within the European Union. Targeted

actions and projects that are established have to respond to the priorities jointly identified by the Heads

used to describe and validate the structure and the content of related datasets

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such as tax compliance, digital reform, the implementation of EU tax law or the resources

management. The Heads of tax administration set up a multi-annual plan for their cooperation, which

summarises the strategic themes and works as a basis for launching new projects.

The cooperation within the TADEUS framework takes place on a regular basis through various

settings, such as plenary meetings and deputies meetings. A small and agile steering group also

contributes to prepare and follow-up on the plenary meetings. The plenary meetings of TADEUS take

place once per year and reunite the Heads of tax administration. The Commission (through DG

TAXUD) equally participates in TADEUS and provides substantial organisational support to it.

Expected results:

TADEUS is expected to generate a number of important results:



Improve tax administration under all its facets (administrative procedures, processes,

structure, tools and skills);



Enhance administrative capacity and cooperation;



Harness the collective strength of tax administrations across the EU.

Outputs of the various actions and projects are expected to be taken up by the tax administrations at

national level. TADEUS Heads, being directly informed of the outcomes, are in the best position to

ensure that they are implemented and leading to changes at the operational level within their

respective tax administrations. Ultimately, the performance of national tax administrations is expected

to improve and benefit from the cooperation at all levels.

Actions initiated under the programme:

Project Group FPG/096 - Strategic dialogue and cooperation among Heads of Tax Administration of

EU (TADEUS).

Since its start in 2018, TADEUS allowed the Heads to meet already 3 times and to decide on

launching a number of relevant common projects:



The

Digital and data project

(FPF/097) which already delivered its final report in 2019. Project

results have been endorsed by TADEUS and served as basis for a new Commission initiative

proposing EU wide harmonised reporting obligations for digital platforms on taxpayers who

earn money/revenues through them; this will allow the national tax administrations to better

ensure tax fairness at national and EU level.

The

Trust and compliance project

(FPG/098) which will deliver by the end of 2020 a set of

guidelines on engaging taxpayers and ensuring tax compliance; those guidelines will allow

bringing important risk management decisions closer to senior management level in the

national tax administrations.

The

HR management readiness and agility model project

(FPG/104) which created an

assessment framework and the possibility to act on improving the HR management practice

at tax administration level based on common and up to date standards;

The

Eurofisc strategy and governance

(FPG/117) which has the purpose to propose, before

the end of 2020, a multi-annual strategy for Eurofisc with objectives set by the Heads of tax

administrations and a roadmap for a new governance for Eurofisc, including the assessment

of its requirements; such overhaul became necessary in view of the increased competences

and tasks attributed to EUROFISC for dealing with VAT fraud.

The

Measuring the performance of administrative cooperation

(FPG/119) which aims at

improving the identification of business results stemming from the use of administration

cooperation; the new insights will feed taking the adequate decisions on what needs to be

improved at national and or EU level for increasing the performance of the administrative

cooperation among the EU Member States in the field of both direct and indirect taxes;

The

Multi-annual strategic plan for IT projects in the field of taxation

(MASP-T), which is less



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of a project and more of a management tool. MASP-T - developed in the course of 2020 - will

ensure a better coordination of European IT projects deriving from Union legislation. It will

provide a consolidated overview of all the running European IT projects including milestones

as well as a reporting scheme. Providing such an overview to the Heads of the tax

administrations will help them taking the right decisions on national resources for ensuring

swift and timely implementation and thus meeting the legal deadlines. TADEUS therefore

agreed to ensure the governance of MASP-T.

Besides launching and acting upon its own projects, TADEUS is also key for disseminating

information, providing support for the current implementation of EU tax policy and legislation. Bringing

the outcomes of Fiscalis activities carried out at expert level to the level of TADEUS is crucial for

ensuring the uptake of their jointly produced outputs (guidelines and good practices) at national level.

Summary of main outcomes:

In just two years since its creation, TADEUS developed towards a reliable framework for strategic

cooperation among the Heads of the tax administrations in the EU Member States. It has done so by

mobilising the necessary resources and expertise for contributing to those projects that were identified

as responding to the main priorities and challenges of national tax administrations within the EU. The

Commission equally invested into ensuring coordination and the smooth functioning of TADEUS. The

main outcome of this period is that it offered a

proof of concept

for the new framework of cooperation at

strategic level among the Heads of tax administration.

The value added of TADEUS lies in its approach to setting up and steering projects. The direct

involvement

of the tax administrations’ senior managers ensures ownership, steering over key strategic

choices, sufficient resources and strict deadlines supervision. Equally, TADEUS helps with

disseminating the project results and with securing the future implementation of recommendations.

Finally, TADEUS has a special relation with the Fiscalis programme as a whole. Fiscalis provides

financial resources for TADEUS while TADEUS contributes to the general objectives of the FISCALIS

programme in three ways:



by initiating new projects of high strategic interest under Fiscalis;



by keeping track of ongoing activities and, eventually, providing resources and participation in

FISCALIS activities at national level;



by ensuring follow up in order to increase the effectiveness of cooperation activities finalised

under FISCALIS.

6.4

AWP project

–

Means of administrative cooperation other than exchange of information

Title of the case study:

Simultaneous control under the Council Directive 2011/16 for taxes, carried out as an MLC within

the scope of FISCALIS.

Description:

In the period from 2017 to 2019 a simultaneous control was performed on a multinational enterprise

(MNE), active in the production and sales of consumer electronics. The main scope of the simultaneous

control was on the transfer pricing between the various entities within the enterprise.

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The MNE originates from, and has its head office established outside the EU. For sales support and

marketing the company is operating with local subsidiaries in a number of Member States of the EU.

These subsidiaries have entered into a contract with the head office, on the basis of which their

remuneration for the work done is set at less than 1% of the revenue generated in their country. The

Members States involved in the MLC concluded during the selection procedures that, given the activities

in the local operating subsidiaries that seem to take place at a first glance, this 1% appeared to be a

rather low remuneration.

When setting up the MLC it was decided to start the project with a limited number of six Member States

to keep the management at its highest standard. Also it was considered important that a number of large

economies of the EU should take part. This was done to safeguard that the MNE would take the situation

serious and would more of less be pushed into working together with the Member States in a compliant

approach.

Expected results:

The expected outcome of the MLC was to gain knowledge on the transfer pricing principles that are used

within the MNE. Based on that knowledge national administrations could assess the correct allocation of

the profits of the MNE and assess if the right amount of taxes were paid at the right place.

Next to solving the potential problems for the audit period the aim of the MLC project was to see if

national administrations could discuss a future solution to avoid the same problems from occurring again.

Actions initiated under the programme: MLC/XXX

During the MLC the involved Member States worked closely together in finding the facts and preparing a

final position. During the MLC representatives of the MNE joined the meeting of the Member States a

number of times to give insight and explanation about their transfer pricing documentation and about the

facts that were found by the auditors.

Based on the supplied transfer pricing documentation and the facts that were found during the MLC the

involved Member States concluded that the remuneration for the local support companies was not in line

with the actual services they supplied. The audit teams concluded that 3% of the revenue as a profit for

the local companies would give a fair result. Given the worldwide revenue of the MNE this would have a

huge impact on their profit allocation.

In order to prevent that all 6 involved Member States would bilaterally have to negotiate with the MNE

about the outcome of the MLC it was decided to approach the MNE on a centralized basis. A team of 3

persons was appointed to negotiate on behalf of the 6 involved Member States on the basis of a

mandate that was given to them.

During the negotiations the appointed team of colleagues managed to close a deal with the MNE for the

past within the mandate that was given to them. Based on the outcome of the MLC the individual

Member States started a procedure with the MNE to settle the future years in advance pricing

agreements to avoid future problems on the same topic.

The financial code of the action initiated under the programme has been anonymised as the concerned company could be identified though the

code.

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Summary of main outcomes:

The most important elements on the outcome of the MLC are:

The MNE realized that its transfer pricing approach was not accepted by a number of Member

States and not just one individual country. Having large economies involved in the process

certainly had its impact.

The involved Member States have been able to adjust the combined tax base with EUR 3.1

billion. This has resulted in an additional tax payment of more than EUR 782 million in the

combined countries

All involved Member States have started procedures with the MNE to enter into an advance

pricing agreement for the future. This will give guarantees to the MNE and the Member States.

Although the MNE was confronted with a substantial amount of additional taxes to be payed, the

company has expressed that the combined approach of the MLC is much more effective and appreciated

a lot by the MNE to reduce the burden of work involved. By this approach it was able to close a deal with

a number of Member States on its transfer pricing approach within a reasonable time limit. Also the

starting up of advance pricing agreement procedures with all involved Member States was appreciated a

lot to create guarantees for the future period.

6.5

AWP project

–

Training and competency building

Title of the case study:

EU Tax Competency Framework (TaxCompEU)

(Initiative 1 of the EU Learning & Development Action Plan for Customs and Taxation (2017-2020) )

Description:

The rapidly changing global economy and technological environment means

that EU tax

administrations need to adapt their human resource policies and their staff profiles to acquire

new competences.

To ensure tax compliance, tax administrations need to diversify their expertise and

use their workforce in smarter ways. Equally, tax administrations need to be attractive employers and

offer challenging, flexible working conditions to face the global competition for talent.

To offer a

structured solution

to these challenges,

the EU Member States and the European

Commission/DG TAXUD decided to collaborate in 2019 to create TaxCompEU,

an EU

competency framework for the tax profession.

In a nutshell, TaxCompEU provides national tax administrations with

a standardised approach

towards training and performance development for tax professionals,

connecting all HR

processes under a uniform, tax-specific, competency-based methodology and toolset.

EU Learning & Development Action Plan for Customs and Taxation (2017

–

2020) - SWD (2017) 34 final

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Expected results:

Common elaboration of a standardised approach

to HR management for EU tax administrations,

that comprises a set of methodologies and tools

designed specifically for the Tax discipline,

placing

tax-specific competency areas at the core of HR management

for all tax organisations and their

professionals and as such, constituting

a performance management and staff development

blueprint

for improved and harmonised performance of tax employees across the EU (= TaxCompEU).

Actions initiated under the programme:

Based on the positive example in the customs area (Customs 2020 supported),

the Commission/DG

TAXUD worked together with 11 EU Member States to develop the EU competency framework

for tax, TaxCompEU

TaxCompEU was developed collaboratively in 2019 (under Fiscalis 2020)



by MS:

Fiscalis 2020 Project Group composed of 13 tax training and HR experts of 11 MS

(Austria, France, Ireland, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain) on

behalf of all EU MS

and the

Commission/TAXUD

(E3)

supported by

external HRM/Change management consultants (FWC BTRAIN-3).



TaxCompEU is since end 2019 available

for use by national tax administrations in all EU languages.

Summary of main outcomes:

This EU Tax Competency Framework, a product of the Fiscalis 2020 programme, is ready for use by

EU Member States’ tax administration in 21 EU official languages since the beginning of this year (with

TaxCompEU PG participating MS : AT, IT, IE, FR, GR, HU, PL, LV, LT, SI and ES

swd (2020) 0402 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Fiscalis 2020 Programme Progress Report 2019

its EN master version already available since end-September 2019).

TaxCompEU

provides a ‘tool box’

for competency-based HR management and Capacity Building

(CB) in national tax administrations and incorporates four main tools (Figure 1).

The framework is specifically designed to

support European tax administrations

in further aligning

their staff policies with business needs, e.g. when defining job requirements and preparing the

recruitment process. The EU competency framework for tax supports EU Member States with a

concept to connect the main HR processes under a consistent, tax-specific, competency-based

methodology and toolset.

Overall, TaxCompEU is an excellent window of opportunity for tax administrations in the EU Member

States to begin

modernising their HR processes using state-of-the-art competency management

techniques and tools.

The value added of this tool is that it integrates answers to most of the

upcoming challenges into the role mapping, role descriptions and competency profiles for the EU tax

administrations’ staff.

Through targeted, competency-based HR processes, the competency framework contributes in

particular:

• to recruit staff equipped with the right knowledge and skills set for the tasks they have to

perform,

• to train staff throughout their whole work life

and

• to provide data for fact-based

strategic workforce planning in national tax administrations.

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TaxCompEU supports in particular the targeted development of staff competencies relevant to a

tax professionals’ future modern work context, like ‘Digital Literacy’, ‘Technological Ability’ and ‘Working

Virtually’, ‘Coping with stress’, ‘Interpersonal Relations’, ‘Oral Communication’ and ‘English as Foreign

Language’, but also competency areas like ‘International Tax Affairs’, ‘Exchange of Information’,

‘Taxpayer Service Processing’, ‘Taxation of New Emerging Businesses’ and ‘Digital Economy’.

Used at national level,

TaxCompEU facilitates the identification and statistical documentation of

workforce and performance strengths and gaps; in consequence it enables the strategic management

of Tax Administrations to proactively mitigate the risks related to pending retirement waves, as well as

make future financial projections and arrive at strategic decisions regarding tailored competency-based

recruiting and filling knowledge and skills gaps precisely in line with national needs/needs forecasts.

TaxCompEU is

developed for voluntary use

by national tax administrations. Full or partial

incorporation of TaxCompEU into national HR practices is a voluntary process, depending on the

needs and challenges that each Member State currently faces. The common framework and relevant

toolbox offer extensive flexibility to adapt to national requirements.

In view of its benefits, more than half of the EU tax administrations indicated that they already plan to

implement the EU Tax Competency framework, while others are considering doing so. Fiscalis 2020

will in the years to come offer the provision of

expert consultant support

for national implementation

processes (upon request of a MS).

For more detailed information about the TaxCompEU

or to get access to the TaxCompEU tool set

in all national EU languages, please consult EUROPA:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/eu-

training/taxcompeu-eu-competency-framework-taxation_en

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ANNEX 1 - PRODUCTION STATUS OF THE TAXATION IT APPLICATIONS AND TRANS-EUROPEAN

SYSTEMS

The following convention “RAG” is used to represent

the production status of the taxation applications:

Legend

Denotes that all the elements of the application are proceeding fine and the application were up and running during the

reported period.

Denotes that some elements of the application were causing concerns at some time during the reported period.

The application in production was down and affects the users at some time during the reported period.

RAG

status

NOK

Down

IT system in operation

Direct Taxation systems and applications

AEOI

–

DAC1 (CI161)

AEOI

–

DAC2 (CI202)

AEOI

–

DAC3 (CI203)

AEOI

–

DAC4 (CI204)

AEOI

–

EU CTS (CI206)

AEOI

–

EU FATCA (CI207)

TIN on the Web (CI084)

eFCA

–

Direct Taxation (CI162)

Taxes in Europe database - TEDBv2 (CI090)

Indirect Taxation systems and applications

VIES (CI078)

VIES-on-the-Web (CI079)

Mini One-Stop Shop (MOSS) (CI100)

VAT refund (CI081)

eForms

–

VAT (CI162)

Taxation Information and Communication

–

TIC

(CI088)

Recovery systems and applications

eForms

–

Recovery (CI162)

Excise systems and applications

EMCS Core business (CI119)

EMCS Administrative cooperation (CI121)

SEED (CI144)

CS/MISE (CI148)

EMCS converter (CI164)

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EMCS Test application (CI157)

Common systems and applications

Self-Service Testing System

–

SSTS (CI087)

Taxation Statistical System (TSS) (CI086)

CTA (CI011)