The Commissioner with responsibility for VAT reform, Algirdas Semeta said there needed to be increased harmonisation of VAT laws to tackle cross-border fraud.

BBC: MEPs urge reform of VAT rules

The report - which was passed by 521 votes to 50 at the daily voting session later in the day - is part of a consultation process being undertaken by the European Commission until the end of the year on VAT reform.

BBC: MEPs urge reform of VAT rules

Whether America adopts a broader-based income tax with lower rates, or a VAT, or any serious tax reform, depends more on politics than economics.

ECONOMIST: America's fiscal deficit