The European Commission has no immediate plans to propose ending value added tax exemptions on various products in the United Kingdom, the EU Commissioner responsible for taxes Pierre Moscovici told a news briefing on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Moscovici told reporters the Commission would consider whether to scrap the British "zero rate" on some items, a legacy pre-dating the current EU minimum VAT of 5 percent as it would "have to reassess everything". He said that while no decision had been made, a "zero rate is not the best idea."
But on Thursday Moscovici made clear there were no plans now to scrap the British exemptions and even if such a proposal were to be drawn up, it could not be implemented without London's consent.
"We have reaffirmed our intention to bring forward legislative VAT simplification measures to help small e-commerce business, in particular to operate cross borders," Moscovici said when asked about his remarks on Wednesday.