Blog
In the increasingly complex world of IPT, understanding, assessing and applying the right taxes to new insurance products can be a challenge for insurers when complying with fragmented regulations. As new risks continue to emerge, so do new insurance products. But how can insurers ensure insurance premium tax (IPT) is correctly applied? The three questions […]
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 […]
EU and local legislation Location of risk is one of the key criteria an insurer must identify and consider before thinking about insurance premium taxes. It’s important to understand the location of risk rules and apply them correctly to be able to settle insurance premium taxes compliantly and to the correct tax authority. Whilst location […]
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 […]
Introduced on 1 January this year, the Italian e-invoicing mandate and the strict archiving requirements for fiscal documents are well known by companies with business in the Apennine Peninsula. While some retailers are exempt from the e-invoicing mandate in the country, they must still comply with different auxiliary obligations. This includes transmission of the data […]
Slowly but surely, so-called insurtech companies are increasing their share of the insurance market. After a record year in 2018 that saw USD 4.15 billion invested into insurtech companies, 2019 is likely to surpass this achievement with USD 1.42 billion already invested during the first quarter. While official announcements of partnerships with long lasting classic […]
Global insurance programmes will cover risks in multiple jurisdictions throughout the world and allocating the premium between all these jurisdictions can be a major challenge for insurers. It gets even more complicated when the risks of that particular programme are unknown at the time of contract inception. Bon voyage This could be, for example, where […]
Last month, we made some predictions on how the outcome of the recent elections would impact the agenda of the Independent Authority of Public Revenues (IAPR) on the envisaged e-invoicing and e-reporting reform. It looks as if the newly elected government is fully in-line with the IAPR agenda to implement e-reporting and bookkeeping (mandatory e-invoicing […]
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 […]
As businesses prepare to file their first VAT returns under Making Tax Digital (MTD), many will already be fully compliant with the requirement to retain digital links, whilst others will be taking advantage of the ‘soft landing’ period provided by the UK tax authority, HMRC, to get fully compliant. So, what exactly are the digital […]
When thinking about the aim of GDPR, one of the first things that comes to mind is the set of rules, obligations, and restrictions on the processing of personal data. When in fact, as the full title of GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation – and its recitals explain, the subject matter and purpose of […]
On 7 July, Greece began voting to elect a new government. The disposed governing left party has been dealt with a hefty blow having been in power since 2015. It was hoped they would introduce less severe politics which many claim they have not only failed to do but, in fact, they actually introduced stricter […]
Tax legislation is sometimes structured, or worded, ambiguously. This leaves scope for a number of different interpretations for the treatment of tax on insurance policies, some leading to a lower tax liability than others. This can often be seen when different insurance premium tax (IPT) rates apply to specific sub-classes of the same business or […]
From 1 July 2019, companies will benefit from an extension in the time frame from when an invoice must be issued. Businesses can now wait for as long as 12 days to issue instant invoices after performing a transaction in Italy. The new interval is a result of the changes introduced by the Italian Parliament […]
The European Union has been fighting against VAT fraud for many years. The so-called ‘carrousel fraud’ is costing the EU approximately EUR 50 billion per year. This was illustrated once again in a recent Europe-wide investigation, called ‘Grand Theft Europe’, carried out by 63 journalists from 30 countries, co-ordinated by German news outlet Correctiv. The […]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – the UK Government department responsible for the collection of taxes – is undertaking a call for evidence to understand how the administration and collection of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) can be modernised and how it can address emerging practices that may lead to unfair tax outcomes. The aim […]