VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA): A Complete Guide to EU VAT Reform

The EU's VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) project is a significant change in the administration of the value added tax within member states. The project is to update VAT systems by facilitating real-time digital reporting, new rules for platform-based transactions, and a single registration in one EU-wide registration. 

They are supposed to simplify VAT fraud, make cross-border compliance easier, and bring tax processes more in line with the digital economy of today. This guide presents a comprehensive account of ViDA, its foundational pillars, implementation timeline, and the way in which businesses trading across the EU have to adjust in order to comply with the new digital VAT regime.

What is VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)?

Value Added Tax in the Digital Age (ViDA) is an overall package of changes proposed by the European Commission to simplify and modernise the EU's VAT system. It addresses the digital economy, cross-border sales, and VAT fraud challenges through new legislation and technology, promoting greater transparency and compliance.

ViDA rests on three pillars:

• Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR): Compulsory real-time e-invoicing and transactional reporting for intra-EU business-to-business (B2B) intrastat supplies, rather than standard summary VAT returns.
• Platform Economy Rules: Illustrates VAT rules for digital platforms for short-term accommodation and passenger transport, rendering platforms liable to be considered suppliers in some situations.
• Single VAT Registration in the EU: Extends the current One Stop Shop (OSS) and Import OSS (IOSS) regimes to reduce member states' multiple VAT registrations.

Pillars of VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)

The VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reform is centred around three strategic pillars, each addressing key challenges in the current EU VAT framework. Together, these pillars aim to modernise tax systems, close compliance gaps, and ensure that VAT processes align with the digital economy. The ViDA report, followed by the European Commission’s legislative proposal in December 2022 and the ECOFIN Council’s approval in November 2024, forms the basis of this transformation.

Digital Reporting Requirements (DRRs) and e-invoicing

Objective: Improve transparency, reduce VAT fraud, and replace outdated summary reporting with transaction-level visibility.

DRRs refer to the mandatory digital submission of detailed transactional data, including structured e-invoicing, to tax authorities. Unlike traditional VAT returns that aggregate values, DRRs capture real-time or near real-time invoice-level data. ViDA categorises DRRs into two models:

• Periodic Transaction Controls (PTCs): Transaction data is submitted periodically alongside VAT returns. Examples include national formats like VAT listings or SAF-T (Standard Audit File for Tax).
   
• Continuous Transaction Controls (CTCs): Transaction data is submitted in real time or near real time, such as Spain's SII or Italy’s SdI (structured e-invoicing model). Under this, invoices must follow a prescribed XML format and be transmitted to tax authorities before being shared with customers.

Under ViDA, structured electronic invoicing will become mandatory for intra-EU B2B transactions from July 1, 2030, with a standard format based on EN 16931. Member states may also introduce domestic e-invoicing requirements starting just 20 days after ViDA is published in the EU Official Journal, without seeking prior approval. This shift will replace the current recapitulative statements with real-time digital reporting at the transaction level, harmonised across all EU member states by 2035.

VAT Treatment of the Platform Economy

Objective: Close VAT compliance gaps in platform-facilitated services and clarify VAT responsibilities.

ViDA extends the “deemed supplier” model, already used in e-commerce, to platforms facilitating passenger transport and short-term accommodation services. From January 1, 2030 (or optionally July 1, 2028), digital platforms will be required to collect and remit VAT when the underlying supplier is:

• A non-taxable person (e.g. private individual), or
• A taxable person using VAT exemption schemes.

Platforms will not be liable for VAT where suppliers provide a valid VAT number and opt to account for VAT themselves.

ViDA also introduces clear rules regarding the place of supply for platform services. B2C facilitation services provided by platforms will be treated as intermediary services, with VAT due in the jurisdiction where the end supply occurs. This brings greater legal certainty to cross-border digital transactions and aligns VAT obligations with economic substance.

Single VAT Registration Across the EU

Objective: Simplify cross-border VAT compliance and reduce the need for multiple VAT registrations.

ViDA significantly expands the scope of the One Stop Shop (OSS) and Import OSS (IOSS) systems, enabling businesses to handle cross-border VAT obligations through a single VAT registration in one EU member state. Key enhancements include:

• Union OSS Extension: Covers B2C domestic supplies, goods with installation or assembly, and sales onboard transport within the EU. It also applies to certain energy supplies like gas and electricity.
• New Special Scheme for Transfers of Own Goods: Allows businesses to report movement of goods across borders through OSS without needing VAT registration in both the origin and destination countries.

This simplification will reduce administrative complexity and compliance costs for businesses engaged in intra-EU trade.

Benefits of VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)

The VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) reform will benefit tax authorities, businesses, and the wider EU economy enormously. ViDA will eliminate traditional inefficiencies in the VAT system through common digital practices and increased transparency. The following are the main benefits:

• Less VAT Fraud and Evasion: Electronic real-time reporting and format-standard e-invoicing will shut down loopholes taken advantage of in cross-border trade, shrinking the EU's VAT gap significantly.
• Streamlined VAT Compliance: Single VAT registration via the expanded OSS scheme eliminates the administrative hassle of registrations within member states, suppressing complexity and administrative expense.
• Enhanced Efficient and Timely Tax Reporting: Structured invoicing and near real-time data submission are mandatory, ensuring timely and accurate VAT declarations, suppressing human error and audit risk.
• Clarity for Platform Enterprises: Extension of the rule of deemed supplier creates clarity for platform enterprises about their VAT burden, encouraging compliance in the expanding gig and sharing economy.
• Standardisation Between Member States: One EU-wide standard for digital reporting discards differences between country-level systems, encouraging smoother intra-EU transactions and enhanced exchange of data between tax authorities.
• Improved Business Credibility and Cash Flow: Clear billing and regulatory compliance-capable systems enhance the credibility of a business with partners and regulators, while quicker reimbursement of input VAT enhances cash flow.

Challenges for Businesses

While ViDA is a highly desired modernisation of the EU VAT regime, its implementation also has some technical and operational difficulties for companies. Companies will have to prepare themselves and incur an investment for this switch. Some common challenges are:

• Technological Upgrades: Companies need to upgrade or replace current ERP, billing, and invoicing systems to accommodate organised e-invoicing formats (e.g., XML conforming to EN 16931) and real-time electronic reporting.
• Harmonisation across Varying Schedules: Despite harmonisation objectives, member states can implement domestic e-invoicing in various phases. This staggered roll-out is one aspect that affects the ease of compliance across various jurisdictions.
• Training and Internal Preparation: Employees working with finance, IT, and compliance departments need to be trained to comprehend and handle new reporting obligations, invoice frequencies, and legislative compliances under ViDA.
• Data Quality and Timeliness: Intra-day reporting requires good-quality transactional data with fewer errors. Companies need to implement strict validation processes to deliver intra-EU supplies within the target time of two days.
• Increased Short-Term Compliance Expense: Even though ViDA will minimise administrative expense in the long term, the upfront expenditure in software, consultancy, and process re-engineering fees could be high for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large firms.
• Platforms' Responsibility Shift: Platforms taking responsibility for VAT collection need to develop infrastructure for determining supplier status, validating VAT numbers, and establishing correct tax rates, creating new operating risks.

Conclusion

VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) is a significant EU VAT modernisation reform under systematic e-invoicing, real-time reporting, and single VAT registration. As much as it is evidently beneficial, fraud prevention, compliance simplification, and digital standardisation equally demand that businesses undertake immense preparations. Phased implementation until 2035, early adopters are crucial to ensure that one stays compliant and operates smoothly in the changing VAT environment.