Between 15 – 17 September 2025, the meeting of the EU Contact Committee Working Group on Value Added Tax was hosted by the State Audit Office of Hungary. The aim of the nearly three-day meeting was to discuss the tasks facing the Supreme Audit Institutions taking into account the challenges of the digital age, with particular attention to the aspects related to the value added tax.
The plenary session was attended by 23 foreign delegates from 11 EU member states as well as representatives of two European institutions including the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD). The event was opened by dr. László Windisch, President of the State Audit Office, who also delivered a short presentation on the development of Hungary’s VAT gap in recent years.
The invited Hungarian keynote speakers at the event were Ferenc Vágujhelyi, Commissioner for the National Tax and Customs Administration, dr. Kristóf Péter Bakai, Deputy Commissioner for the National Tax and Customs Administration and Szabolcs Czöndör, Head of Department of the National Tax and Customs Administration, who provided a detailed professional insight into the Hungarian practice. The foreign keynote speakers were Ludwig De Winter, Deputy Head of Unit of the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union and Benny Fransen, Head of Task of the European Court of Auditors. In their presentations, they shared their thoughts on entering the ViDA era and the ECA’s 2025 special report „Value Added Tax fraud on imports”.
On the second day of the meeting, in addition to Hungary, eight other EU member states including Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Latvia and Romania delivered their professional presentations. During the plenary session, the participants also discussed the future cooperation, as a result of which, the two sub-working groups will merge and continue their activities under the name ” VAT Network”.