In response, the Belgian presidency proposed measures to reduce the administrative burden on platforms and underlying suppliers in EU Member States. Despite these efforts, the proposed changes were not enough to reach a consensus, requiring further negotiations.
Unfortunately, during the latest Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meeting under the Belgian presidency last Friday (21 June 2024), Estonia still could not be convinced. Although the latest version of the proposal included some adjustments to address Estonia's objections, the deemed supplier model for platforms continues to be a deal-breaker for Estonia.
Consequently, it is now up to the incoming Hungarian presidency of the EU Council to take on the task of reaching a consensus in the second half of 2024.
Pro memorie: The ViDA package includes a wide range of measures, including the abolition of the intra-Community declaration (with mandatory e-invoicing and e-reporting). Under the ViDA package, Member States also have the option to introduce mandatory business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-invoicing for domestic transactions without requiring a derogation from the European Commission.
Specifically, this means that countries wanting to introduce e-invoicing currently still need EU approval before their legislation can come into effect. In Belgium, previous negotiations with the EU did not lead to approval because the current 4-corner model lacks an e-reporting component to the VAT authorities (a model with data exchange with authorities). It remains to be seen what impact this development will have on ongoing negotiations with the EU.
