Slovakia and Czech Republic to co-operate in combating tax fraud

An agreement on the automatic exchange of VAT information was discussed by Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kažimír (Smer-SD) and his Czech counterpart Alena Schillerová on Monday. The agreement would provide an early, accurate and detailed exchange of information ensuring a relevant assessment of risky business transactions by both countries. "We agreed to sign the agreement as soon as possible and I believe that, partly thanks to it, we'll be able to eliminate fraud in this area in both countries and thus improve VAT collection," said Kažimír. Since 2012, when Slovakia introduced various measures to fight against tax evasion, the VAT gap has decreased from 41 percent to 26 percent. Conversely, in the Czech Republic, where the intensive fight against tax evasion began in 2014, it has seen the tax gap go down by about half.