BRUSSELS, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission Friday announced proposals to improve cooperation among European Union (EU) member states in the fight against value-added tax (VAT) fraud.

    The Commission wants to tackle trader fraud, or carousel fraud, which occurs when somebody imports VAT-free high-tech goods, such as chips and mobile phones, from other EU member states and then sells them with the tax.

    One of the fraud-busting measures is to improve the accuracy of information exchanged between members on intra-EU trade.

    The EU's executive arm also called on national tax authorities to take a pan-European approach to collecting VAT.

    This means the authorities should not only take responsibility for the protection of national VAT receipts but also for those of other member states.

    The Commission also called on tax administrations to do a better job in collecting VAT receipts in fraud cases.

    The Commission's proposals will be discussed by EU finance ministers early next month.