V4 to fight fraud in the digital economy

The Visegrád Group countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — will draft a joint proposal for the European Commission against fraud in the digital economy, Hungarian Economy Minister Mihály Varga said after a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Amsterdam on Friday.

According to a statement by the Hungarian Ministry of National Economy. the Hungarian government is proposing the establishment of an international system for the collection of taxes from internet businesses, Varga is quoted by the Hungarian news agency MTI as saying.

Banks and companies that provide electronic payment services would collect a withholding tax on internet transactions, he explained. As the system would operate in all EU member states, it could not be circumvented by tax cheats, he added.

Varga said the review and possible consequences of the Panama Papers was one of the most important topics discussed at the Ecofin meeting. Hungary’s tax office has set up a dedicated work group of experts to analyse the leaked information on offshore transactions.