{"id":13135,"date":"2026-01-26T11:58:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/?p=13135"},"modified":"2026-01-28T10:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T10:40:33","slug":"vat-gap-in-europe-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/vat-gap-in-europe-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c9cart de TVA en Europe 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest VAT Gap in Europe \u2013 Report 2025<\/em> by the European Commission reveals a renewed deterioration in VAT compliance across the European Union (considering data up to and including the year 2023), reversing the steady gains achieved prior to the COVID\u201119 crisis. After several years of recovery, the VAT compliance gap climbed to \u20ac128\u202fbillion in 2023, representing 9.5% of the EU\u2019s theoretical VAT Total Tax Liability (\u201cVTTL\u201d)\u2014 an increase from 7.9% in 2022.<\/p>\n

This shift marks a clear turning point which after years of positive trajectory gives raise for concern. While the period from 2013 to 2021 was characterised by consistent improvement in VAT collection efficiency, the combination of the pandemic, inflationary pressures, supply disruptions and geopolitical shocks has weakened enforcement outcomes. Between 2021 and 2023, VTTL rose by 17.3%, but actual VAT revenues grew by only 14.4%, widening the compliance gap accordingly.<\/p>\n

Large Differences Across Member States<\/strong><\/p>\n

Compliance performance varied sharply across the EU. Austria (1%), Finland (3%), and Cyprus (3.3%) recorded the lowest gaps, reflecting comparatively stable consumption, stronger administrative controls, or both. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Romania (30%) and Malta (24.2%) reported the largest shortfalls in 2023. Median Member State performance deteriorated as well, rising from 7.3% in 2022 to 8.2% in 2023.<\/p>\n

EU candidate countries showed mixed outcomes: Georgia (5.4%) and Kosovo (8.1%) fell within the EU\u2019s general range, while Albania (24.6%) performed more poorly. Ukraine\u2019s available pre\u2011war estimate (2021) placed its compliance gap at 17.5%.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>VAT Policy Gap Remains Structurally High<\/strong><\/p>\n

The study also highlights the VAT policy gap, capturing forgone revenue from rate reductions, exemptions and other policy choices. In 2023, the EU\u2019s policy gap reached 50.5% of notional ideal revenue, with 12.3% attributable to reduced or zero rates and 38.3% to exemptions. Most of this shortfall\u201423.3%\u2014comes from non\u2011actionable components such as public\u2011sector activities and imputed rents. National policy\u2011driven exemptions add a further 11.4%, while EU\u2011mandated exemptions account for 3.6%.<\/p>\n

The policy gap varies widely: Spain (59.1%) and Greece (57.1%) record the largest gaps, while Bulgaria (33.6%), Latvia (34%) and Lithuania (35.6%) sit at the lower end.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Economic Conditions Shape VAT Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The period 2019\u20132023 saw the EU economy buffeted by major disruptions. Growth slowed to 0.3% in 2023, and inflation\u2014though down from 2022 peaks\u2014remained elevated. VAT revenues rose only 3.5% in 2023, well below inflation, indicating a real decline in collection efficiency. Candidate countries grew faster, averaging around 4% real GDP growth, but with notable volatility, especially in Moldova and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

These macroeconomic forces contributed to shifts in consumption patterns and compliance risks. For example, weakened consumer spending, reduced digital payment growth, and rising bankruptcies collectively increased the likelihood of non\u2011reported transactions.<\/p>\n

Policy Responses and Administrative Reforms<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report further documents significant tax policy changes during 2023\u20132024. Member States gradually phased out pandemic\u2011 and energy\u2011crisis\u2011related VAT reductions, although several extended relief measures\u2014particularly zero\u2011rating of essential goods or renewable\u2011energy equipment, remained.<\/p>\n

Compliance measures also intensified. Poland introduced VAT groups; Belgium expanded limitation periods for audits; Malta tightened reporting obligations; and several Member States advanced e\u2011invoicing and e\u2011reporting frameworks. These reforms are expected to support medium\u2011term collection efficiency but have yet to reverse the recent increase in the EU\u2011wide VAT gap.<\/p>\n

A System Under Pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, the 2025 VAT Gap analysis (with data up to and including 2023) underscores a dual structural challenge: non\u2011compliance costs remain large and rising, while policy\u2011driven revenue losses remain far higher than evasion\u2011related losses. With the EU\u2019s VAT system facing mounting economic and administrative pressures, the report suggests that both improved enforcement and a reassessment of VAT policy design, particularly exemptions and rate reductions, will be required to restore revenue performance.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/data.europa.eu\/doi\/10.2778\/7868422<\/strong><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest VAT Gap in Europe \u2013 Report 2025 by the European Commission reveals a renewed deterioration in VAT compliance across the European Union (considering data up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239137956,"featured_media":13137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","content-type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1387],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-vat-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/vat_gap_1140x360.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfNysa-3pR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239137956"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13135"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13138,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13135\/revisions\/13138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meridianglobalservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}