On 1 July, the European Commission adopted a Decision enabling Member States to temporarily waive customs duties and VAT on the importation from third countries of food, blankets, tents, electric generators and other life-saving equipment destined for Ukrainians affected by the war.

From 1 March 2023, economic operators involved in handling, sending, shipping and transporting cargo, express or postal consignments to or via the EU by air have to comply with new advance data reporting requirements for pre-loading and pre-arrival customs risk assessments.

The Commission has today published its Annual Report on Taxation 2022, which highlights that EU Member States’ tax revenue has decreased for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, while public expenditure jumped from 46.5% in 2019 to 53% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis

The EU will finance over 1.800 pieces of customs control equipment in the next three years, under the Customs Control Equipment Instrument (CCEI).

On 3 June 2022, finance ministers adopted a directive amending EU VAT legislation to extend the application period of the optional VAT reverse charge mechanism until 31 December 2026