EPPO 2024 Annual Report: Cross-Border VAT Fraud Losses Exceed EUR 13 Billion

The latest EPPO annual report shows fraudsters' scale and efforts to ensure personal financial gain by conducting elaborate VAT frauds, thus harming the state budgets of the EU and other countries. Moreover, the annual EPPO report provides valuable insight into VAT frauds and evasions, showing an increased number of investigations and processed crime reports.

Key Insights from the EPPO Report

As EPPO reported in 2024, 1,054 new investigations with an estimated damage of around EUR 13 billion were opened. This represents a 9.7% increase compared to the number of investigations opened in 2023. The total number of currently open investigations is 2,666, with an estimated damage of EUR 24.8 billion.

Out of EUR 24.8 billion of estimated damage, more than half, around EUR 13.15 billion, is linked to cross-border VAT fraud. These frauds include the involvement of organized criminal groups that conduct complex and elaborate VAT frauds and represent a significant security risk, as their activities often include money laundering and other illegal activities.

In 2024, during the investigation and ongoing operations, EPPO froze assets worth EUR 849 million, processed 6,547 crime reports, and filed 205 indictments, with 869 persons indicted. This represents an increase of 56% in the number of crime reports processed and a 47% increase in the number of indictments compared to 2023.

Conclusion

Although these numbers may seem worrying, the increase in open investigations and estimated damage has continued since the EPPO was established in June 2021 and demonstrates positive outcomes of the EPPO's efforts to establish cooperation with relevant national bodies of EU countries and to create a system to fight these frauds on EU level.

Moreover, with the establishment of new offices in Poland and Sweden, the number of detected frauds and the value of damages will increase, which should be seen as a positive outcome of the EPPO's work.

Source: EPPO