|
Published
by the State agency Forfas, the report makes several
recommendations it believes will help eliminate the gap
between prices here and in other EU states, including the
introduction of new EU VAT rules for cross-border
business.
It
suggests measures should be introduced to shift the place
of VAT taxation to where services are consumed, scrapping
the existing system which is based on the location of the
supplier. It also wants an online VAT registration,
declaration and refund facility for cross-border traders
and a co-ordinated awareness campaign to introduce the new
service.
Forfas
suggests credit terms and procedures should be streamlined
across the EU and measures to encourage cross-border
insurance provision should be introduced.
Confidence
The
report found that in addition to higher prices, Irish
consumers lack confidence when it comes to cross-border
transactions, possibly because adequate redress and
cross-border administrative co-operation are not uniformly
available.
The
study also found e-commerce is not utilised to its
potential.
The
National Consumer Agency welcomed the report and its
finding that Irish consumers have a generally positive
attitude towards the single market. However, its chief
executive Ann Fitzgerald said there is a lack of
confidence among Irish consumers in contracting
cross-border transactions, despite the growth in use of
the internet.
"We
have worked to communicate consumers' rights when shopping
online through a national information campaign and we hope
that by continuing to deliver such messages, consumers
will grow in confidence in this area," she said.
Source
: Irish Independent - Dublin, Ireland, dated
15/02/2008
|
