Blog

By a vote of 590 to 8, with 10 abstentions, the European Parliament has formally agreed to allow Member States the option of applying reduced VAT rates on electronic books, newspapers and periodicals. This proposal, as put forth by the European Commission, is designed to bring the VAT treatment of e-publications in line with the […]

After nearly two years of negotiations, representatives from the European Commission and Norway initialed an agreement on VAT cooperation in May of 2017. The agreement will facilitate administrative cooperation between the parties, and will provide a legal framework to combat VAT fraud and assist in the recovery of VAT claims. The initialed agreement will officially […]

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed the Verify First Act – which would serve as an amendment to the premium tax credit under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to the premium assistance credit under the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA). The bill provides that an individual is not entitled to advance […]

The Ministry of Finance, Trade, and Investment in Turks & Caicos recently published a list of Reportable Jurisdictions for 2017. These jurisdictions have an existing agreement in place with Turks & Caicos to exchange tax information under CRS. Please note that while this list is currently up to date, it is subject to change by […]

Monaco recently published a list of reportable and participating jurisdictions on its CRS Frequently Asked Questions page. These lists are current as of April 2017, and should be considered as current until further notice. Please note that reportable jurisdictions are ones which have established exchange of information agreements with Monaco under CRS, while participating jurisdictions […]

E-invoicing clearance systems are increasingly being accepted and implemented worldwide. This development, with its origins in Latin America, is viewed by many market participants as potentially increasing tax compliance efficiency for businesses and public administrations alike. Mexico can be viewed as a relatively mature example of a clearance system. This country, where the tax administration […]

In his June 1, 2017, budget speech, the Bangladeshi Minister of Finance announced the July 1, 2017, implementation of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012. A full copy of Bangladesh’s 2017-2018 Budget Speech may be found here. While the Act was passed in 2012, its implementation has been deferred in order to […]

Technology professionals at financial institutions are confident that their first U.K. Common Reporting Standard (CRS) submissions will go fairly well, but anxiety about a few issues persists. A poll conducted by Sovos amongst readers of ‘Banking Technology’ in the run up to the U.K.’s first CRS submission found respondents to be largely optimistic about the […]

The Croatian Tax Administration has recently published its response to a query about place of supply rules and VAT liability on a Dutch taxpayer’s sales. The Dutch taxpayer holds a VAT identification number in Croatia but does not have physical presence within the country. The conclusions made in this guidance by the Tax Administration are as […]

On June 11, India’s GST Council revised GST rates applicable to certain goods. The changes include a  rate reduction from 28% to 18% on specified electronic products, such as computer printers, CCTV, and computer monitors not exceeding 17 inches. The schedule of all the revisions is available here. GST will be fully implemented in India on July 1, 2017. 

Now that the sting of winter tax season has passed, teams charged with tax information reporting obligations have returned to business as usual. With several months until next tax season, many companies take a vacation from 10-Series reporting processes during summer, but this traditionally seasonal process is ripe for a new approach. The IRS recently […]

The world’s first global platform for tax compliance and business-to-government reporting pairs vast regulatory analysis with local expertise in secure cloud software to help businesses eliminate regulatory barriers June 13, 2017, Wilmington, Mass. — Tax compliance and reporting software leader Sovos today introduced the Intelligent Compliance Cloud to help safeguard businesses around the world from the […]

An Interview with Sovos President and CEO Andy Hovancik As governments around the world turn to technology to close tax and regulatory loopholes and address the revenue collections challenges of revenue, businesses are finding it harder to keep up with today’s more complex regulatory environment. The ever-increasing pace and complexity of tax compliance and business-to-government […]

California recently released an updated version of Form DE-9, the Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages. This form is issued by the Employment Development Department, and is used by employers in California to report wages and withholdings on a quarterly basis.  This new version makes no changes to the form itself. However, the instructions […]

On June 8th, the Republic of Croatia submitted a final proposal to the European Commission, requesting a derogation from the EU VAT Directive regarding threshold amounts for tax application on small enterprises. This derogation would allow Croatia to exempt from VAT taxable persons whose annual turnover is EUR 45 000, effective January 1, 2018.  Under Article […]

Maine Revenue Services has made available the draft versions of the 2018 MEETRS File Formatting Specifications for Electronic Transmittal of Quarterly Income Tax Withholding. There are sets of specifications for both original filings and amended filings – which will become effective the first quarter of 2018. There are certain revisions to the specifications of which […]

Regulatory and legislative updates to 1099 form requirements that took place in recent weeks. Individual states and the IRS introduce new 1099 form requirements and changes to existing legislation on a frequent basis. The Sovos Regulatory Analysis team continually monitors and documents each of these updates in our Regulatory Feed.  Here are several recently updated […]

Proposed ACA replacement legislation, entitled the American Health Care Act (AHCA), aims to dismantle the employer mandate by zeroing out the associated penalties. Despite this, the AHCA maintains both employer and insurer reporting requirements. There are seven high-level changes to the current law that the AHCA will seek to impose: Nullify Individual Mandate Penalties Nullify […]