VAT fraud is a major issue in France, and numerous regulations and reforms have been introduced in recent years to help combat it.
As a reminder, since January 1, 2018, merchants and other professionals subject to VAT must record their customers' payments using management software or a system meeting the provisions ofArticle 88 of the so-called "anti-VAT fraud" law.
This software must be certified by an accredited organization, such as INFOCERTor an individual attestation from the publisher. Failure to do so may result in severe penalties.
Presentation:
VAT fraud takes many forms. It is generally defined as the intentional or unintentional concealment or understatement of all or part of one's income.
The various forms of VAT fraud include :
- VAT carousel
- Unpaid VAT
- Reduced VAT fraud
- Intra-Community VAT for defaulting traders
- No VAT registration in e-commerce
By 2021, INSEE has estimated "the missing amounts of VAT {...} to be between 20 and 25 billion euros", representing almost one point of GDP.
But while the amount of estimated fraud is up on previous years, the amount of money collected is also up, with "total reassessments notified in 2021 of 13.4 billion euros(+35% on 2020) , including 10.7 billion euros in tax audit receipts."
VAT fraud and e-invoicing :
The fight against VAT fraud will also soon be linked to the implementation of the reform onthe widespread use of electronic invoicing, about which we have already spoken at length.
As a reminder, this reform introduces the obligation of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing)combined with an obligation to transmit dematerialized data (e-reporting) to the tax authorities.
The aim of these two obligations will be for the authorities to benefit from better knowledge of the transactions carried out, to implement automated controls, and also to save time for companies, who should eventually benefit from pre-filling in their VAT returns.
VAT fraud and NF525 :
As previously explained, the so-called anti-VAT fraud law, in place since January 1, 2018, obliges all merchants subject to VAT, whether individuals or legal entities, under private or public law, who make use of accounting, management or cash register system software, to submit to these regulations.
To comply with this law, INFOCERT has developed a structured reference framework and offers quality certification issued by an independent third-party organization. Thanks to this certification, you can obtain a NF525 certificate of conformity to meet the certification obligation.
This trusted certification is aimed at software publishers as well as companies who have developed software in-house and use it in their own stores.
The NF525 will enable you to justify the inalterability, security, conversation andarchiving of data required by law, as well as ensuring a high level of quality for your software.
If you'd like to find out more about certification in general, NF525 or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
https://www.infocert.org/nf525/ // https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/6478533 // https://www.eurofiscalis.com/fraude-fiscale-2021/ // https://www.economie.gouv.fr/chiffres-lutte-contre-fraude-fiscale-2021#
