The Riigikogu passed an Act promoting the fight against VAT fraud in cross-border e-commerce

NordenBladet —

The Act on Amendments to the Value Added Tax Act and the Taxation Act (225 SE), initiated by the Government, will improve the fight against VAT fraud in cross-border e-commerce.

The Act establishes an obligation for payment service providers to store the data regarding the payees of cross-border payments and to transmit them to the tax authority quarterly if the total number of payments per payee exceeds 25 payments in a quarter. Tax authorities will transmit the data to the European Union’s central electronic system of payment information.

The Act is connected with a European Union directive that Members States will have to transpose and implement from next year.

During the debate, Martin Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Liisa Pakosta (Estonia 200) and Annely Akkermann (Reform Party) took the floor.

71 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Act and 14 voted against.

The Riigikogu appointed new members to the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia

With the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia Who Are Specialists in the Field” (333 OE), submitted by the Finance Committee, experts in the field Krista Jaakson, Karin Jõeveer and Ivi Proos were appointed as new members of the Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia in connection with the expiry of the mandate of Ivi Proos, Enn Listra and Rein Minka.

The Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia is the oversight body of the Bank of Estonia which consists of a Chairman, representatives of the parliamentary groups of the Riigikogu and specialists in the field. The Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia is formed based on the principle that each parliamentary group of the Riigikogu nominates one of its members and the Chairman of the Board nominates four specialists in the field.

During the debate, Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

68 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of passing the Resolution and 14 voted against, and there was one abstention.

Two draft Resolutions passed the first reading

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the International Military Operation Inherent Resolve” (310 OE), submitted by the Government. It will enable to contribute with up to 110 servicemen to the US-led international military operation Inherent Resolve in 2024.

Mart Helme (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor during the debate.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading, but the motion was not supported. 2 members of the Riigikogu supported rejection and 75 voted against.

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Post-Conflict Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Syria” (311 OE), submitted by the Government, will enable to contribute with up to three servicemen to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operation in the Middle East in 2024.

During the debate, Ants Frosch (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Kristo Enn Vaga (Reform Party) took the floor.

The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group moved to reject the draft Resolution at the first reading, but the motion was not supported. 2 members of the Riigikogu supported rejection and 63 voted against.

The first reading of a draft Resolution was adjourned

The first reading of the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Mission in Iraq” (312 OE), submitted by the Government, which will enable to contribute with up to three servicemen in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission in Iraq in 2024, will continue at the plenary sitting beginning at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

The first reading of seven drafts was deferred to the agenda for the next sitting

Due to the end of the working hours of the sitting, the first reading of seven drafts was also deferred to tomorrow’s plenary sitting. They are the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Lebanon” (313 OE), submitted by the Government, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Composition of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Readiness Units” (314 OE), submitted by the Government, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the Composition of the United Kingdom’s Joint Expeditionary Force” (315 OE), submitted by the Government, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the European Union Training Mission in Mozambique” (316 OE), submitted by the Government, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in International Military Operations Led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or its Member State, or the European Union, and in other International Military Operations Led by the United Nations, upon the First Contribution thereto” (317 OE), submitted by the Government, the Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Extension of the Time Limit for the Use of the Defence Forces in the Fulfilment of the International Commitments of the Estonian State in the European Union Military Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI” (318 OE), submitted by the Government, and the Bill on Amendments to the Income Tax Act (337 SE), initiated by the Finance Committee.

After the sitting, it was planned to form the Estonia-Africa Parliamentary Friendship Group on the initiative of Hanah Lahe, the Estonia-Iceland Parliamentary Friendship Group on the initiative of Pärtel-Peeter Pere, and the support group to promote the building of an annex to the Estonian National Opera on the initiative of Enn Eesmaa, Helle-Moonika Helme, Mart Helme, Siim Kallas, Liina Kersna, Signe Kivi, Heljo Pikhof and Kadri Tali.

The sitting ended at 2.01 p.m.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.

Riigikogu Press Service
Eleen Lindmaa
+372 631 6456, +372 5551 4433
eleen.lindmaa@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu passed an Act promoting the fight against VAT fraud in cross-border e-commerce

Source: Parliament of Estonia