Procedural Autonomy in EU VAT Law from AT/CZ Perspectives

The realities of life in the 21st century are characterised by progressing digitalisation and globalisation. In economic terms, this means an increase in the cross-border supply of goods and services. As a result, businesses are increasingly confronted with tax issues in different countries including diverse value added tax systems. Value added tax is well known as a tax which is largely harmonised within the EU. This applies, above all, to the substantive core, including: which business transactions are subject to tax, which (Member) state has the right to tax, and who has to pay the tax due to the relevant tax authority. By contrast, the procedures for enforcing the (largely harmonised) value added tax legislation are still largely a matter for the Member States. Changing economic realities have led to growing calls for further harmonisation and centralisation of the law governing the enforcement of value added tax, especially in recent years. The weaknesses of the current legal framework are well known and have been discussed at length, including: the burdens and costs of value added tax compliance, inconsistent interpretation and application practices, undesirable forms of tax competition, difficulties in administrative cooperation, and legal uncertainty for affected businesses. However, one question has rarely been asked in this context: What does the current allocation of competences between the EU and the Member States say about further (far-reaching) harmonisation and centralisation of VAT procedures? Or to put it more bluntly: Is more harmonisation and centralisation actually possible, and if so, to what extent? This is the first research project which comprehensively assesses the division of powers between the EU and the Member States in VAT procedural law in the light of the competence principles of the EU Treaties. The innovative principle-based approach allows a comprehensive determination of all relevant distributions of competence based on uniform criteria which are doctrinally sound and objectively verifiable. This enables a future tax policy in the area of the VAT procedural law which meets the requirements of legality and legitimacy in politically volatile times. The theoretical considerations are illustrated by means of a legal comparison between Austria and the Czech Republic, using a modern comparative law approach which takes into account the peculiarities of the tax cultures of these two legal systems.