From Supplier Arbitrage to Consumer Arbitrage: How the EU VAT Presumption Framework Opened a Door It Was Designed to Close

In 2015, the European Union introduced the destination principle into the VAT framework for cross-border B2C electronically supplied services, where suppliers must determine the customer’s location using digital footprints such as IP addresses and payment card origins. The author, in this article, examines whether this presumption framework remains effective given the proliferation of consumer VPNs and neobanks, which allow consumers to manipulate their digital footprints, and ends with a proposal for a targeted reform.