The Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, has signed a Benelux recommendation regarding the promotion of customs and veterinary fiscal cooperation in the equine sector.
By signing the recommendation concerning financial cooperation in the equine sector, on the 15th anniversary of their fiscal cooperation and the fight against fraud, the Benelux countries want to put an end to irregularities in the trading of elite horses.
The Benelux countries aim to end tax fraud in this sector by exchanging more information and having joint controls. To do so, the three countries’ fiscal, customs and veterinary services will join forces.
Elite horses from Benelux are sold all over the world for millions of euros. Two coordinated and simultaneous controls already implemented by the Benelux countries in this sector have revealed elements of fraud in terms of VAT, but also the violation of customs formalities and veterinary prescriptions.
Thanks to the signing of this Benelux recommendation by Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg will exchange data concerning the circulation and trade of elite horse through their fiscal, customs and veterinary services. The three countries will also examine how to structurally link to the services’ databases and study the possibility of installing a new indicator function to detect suspicious signals as part of this exchange.
Moreover, the countries involved in the recommendation will confer with the equine sector to create an optimal economic climate for the circulation and trading of horses.
With this close cooperation, Benelux is playing a precursory role in Europe. The total cost of the fight against tax evasion is several million euros.
North Rhine-Westphalia and France will also take part in this cooperation.
Photo by MFIN of Pierre Gramegna
