Blog

The Italian government has introduced an ambitious new program for collecting VAT, under which the tax authorities will pre-populate VAT returns on behalf of taxpayers. This program is aimed at reducing the VAT gap in Italy, which reached 33.5 billion Euros in 2017 – in absolute terms, the largest loss of revenue in the European […]

Part 3:  Chain Transactions This is the third in a series of four blogs providing explanatory detail to the EU’s “2020 Quick Fixes” that aim to standardise certain VAT rules throughout the EU. Part one of this series focussed on VAT Identification of the Customer, whilst part two provided guidance on the Exemptions of Intra-Community […]

Part 2: The Exemptions of Intra-Community Supplies of Goods This is the second in a series of four blogs providing explanatory detail to the EU’s “2020 Quick Fixes”. This article focuses on updated guidance around the Exemption of Intra-Community Supplies of Goods coming into effect on 1 January 2020.    The EU Implementing Regulation contains a […]

It’s no longer controversial to say that real-time VAT control initiatives such as e-invoice clearance or real-time reporting are becoming increasingly popular with governments and tax authorities across the world. Such initiatives, commonly referred to under the umbrella term CTC, or Continuous Transaction Controls, are now largely considered to be the new normal as governments […]

Part 1: VAT Identification of the Customer We recently wrote about the EU’s latest report on the “VAT Gap” – the overall difference between the expected VAT revenue and the amount collected by each Member State. It is hoped that the VAT Gap will be substantially reduced by the introduction of a new definitive VAT […]

In September, the European Commission released its latest study on the so-called ‘VAT Gap’. The VAT Gap is defined as the difference between the amount of VAT collected and the VAT Total Tax Liability (VTTL), in absolute or percentage terms. The VTTL is an estimated amount of VAT that is theoretically collectable based on VAT […]

What to Expect Next In Parts One and Two of this series on the VAT MOSS scheme for digital services we provided a background, considerations for applying and a recent update on the existing MOSS scheme. This recent update is the first stage that will pave the way for a smooth transition to the new VAT […]

An update and the effects of Brexit In the first part of this series on the VAT MOSS scheme for digital services we provided a background on this scheme and considerations for applying.  In this second part we provide you with a recent update and describe how Brexit will affect the scheme. Our third and […]

In our previous piece reflecting on the aftermath of the initial MTD deadlines for ‘First Stage filers’ we also noted that the first submission experiences of ‘Second Stage’ filers should hopefully run more smoothly.  To recap, Second Stage filers are often referred to as ‘complex’ businesses, as HMRC have determined certain features to their operations […]

In February 2019, Portugal published extensive and comprehensive legislation intended to regulate the invoicing processes in a growing digital environment. To this end, the country consolidated and reformed previous pieces of law scattered across the Portuguese legal system. Although some rules were already in force from the publication of this Law-Decree 28/2019, taxpayers expected further […]

The European Commission published in September a statistical report on the VAT Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS). According to this report the overall VAT revenue collected under MOSS (Union and Non-Union) shows a constant growth from EUR 3 billion of VAT collected in 2015 to EUR 4.57 billion collected in 2018. In 2018, the VAT […]

7 August 2019 was a landmark in one of the most significant changes ever to occur in UK business-to-government VAT reporting.  The requirement to file VAT returns via HMRC’s new digital tax system Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTD) affected 1.2 million VAT registered taxpayers.  The vast majority file quarterly returns and were therefore expected […]

AP automation is supposed to save SAP customers money, but developments in digital tax could derail its benefits and actually create further liabilities. With tax authorities all over the world seeking to increase revenues and close tax gaps, IT professionals and AP system administrators face new challenges in indirect tax compliance. Among those challenges are […]

It’s very possible that US companies are breaking laws governing storage of electronic invoices in the EU without realizing they’re putting themselves at risk for financial penalties.  The EU is an entity that, as the Brexit debate has shown, can frustrate and baffle its own citizens. In the US, the EU is frequently misunderstood. The […]

Using reduced VAT rates to influence consumer buying choices Charging VAT and other consumption taxes rarely has a significant effect on a nation’s economy. The impact is felt at a specific industry sector level and more acutely when applied to goods and services in the B2C environment where any additional tax burden can impact price […]

Anyone familiar with the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and the portrayal of hungry sharks setting their sights on surfers may be surprised to learn that tax and IT professionals may be feeling every bit as wary as those surfers as they enter their own version of shark-infested waters. The reason: IT and tax pros are […]

For those currently in the midst of preparing monthly Intrastat returns, the recent increase in reporting thresholds by a number of countries across the European Union (EU) will be of limited comfort. For those companies where the volume of goods being moved between EU countries are close to the current reporting thresholds however, the updates […]

Sovos officially closed the acquisition of Istanbul-based Foriba. This acquisition represents another significant milestone in our mission and makes it easier for businesses to overcome one of the greatest challenges they face: the digital transformation of tax. Across the globe, governments are mandating their own digital transformation, giving businesses two choices. The first is to […]