Blog

Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries have been on the bleeding edge of technology-driven value-added tax (VAT) initiatives for more than a decade. These countries have set the stage for similar compliance and reporting requirements that are now sweeping across more than 30 European countries. Businesses operating in Europe have a distinct benefit. […]

When European or American companies talk about Europe increasingly adopting VAT reporting solutions based on the OECD SAF-T standard, they are mostly showcasing their ignorance of the revolution in tax controls that is really brewing. Europe is playing catch-up with many other parts of the world which are utilizing the Internet and associated technologies to […]

In the complex and ever-changing landscape of VAT Compliance and Reporting, automation is critical to drive operational simplification, cost reduction, audit risks mitigation and capability acquisition. “Routine tasks do need to be automated, but for the purpose of freeing up people to explore new approaches to create even more value.” This statement from a June […]

International News European Commission Proposes Changes to VAT Regime On January 18, 2018, the European Commission proposed an overhaul of the European VAT System, building on the 2016 VAT Action Plan. The main goal of the proposed changes is to create a European VAT area that operates more efficiently in a globalized world and aids […]

As tax authorities move to technology-driven value-added tax (VAT) reporting requirements, businesses operating in Europe will need to strap on their seat belts and prepare for turbulent times ahead, according to a new study by Sovos that examines the compliance-related disruptions that are sweeping across the globe. In the report – The Evolution of Value-Added […]

VAT compliance and reporting can place a major burden on IT teams. With customizations required for every jurisdiction, constantly changing regulations, necessary integrations with government portals and a variety of data submissions and reports required, compliance can quickly erode IT’s time for other projects and innovation. Constant fire drills are only the tip of the […]

Even though the year is just underway, 2018 is already bringing a flurry of activity around indirect taxation in the United Kingdom. While much of the detail still needs to be sorted, one thing is clear – significant compliance changes are on the horizon and companies operating in the UK will need to adapt. Specifically, […]

As tax authorities in Latin America, and now Europe, adopt new eInvoicing and eAccounting initiatives, companies are realizing that SAP is not equipped to support the unique needs from country to country. When faced with this challenge, some companies either opt to manage compliance internally or move compliance outside of SAP, both of which are […]

Tax authorities in countries around the world are changing VAT compliance and reporting rules in an effort to minimize tax gaps, improve efficiency and accuracy, simplify auditing and ultimately achieve real-time visibility into companies’ operations. While every country is at a different stage in rolling out these initiatives and they all take slight different approaches, […]

International News EU Council Approves Overhaul of VAT System The Council of the European Union has adopted a legislative package that will substantially modify Europe’s VAT law from 2019. This package – consisting of a Directive and two Regulations – represents the first step towards enacting the European Commission’s 2016 Action Plan on VAT, which […]

International News OECD Issues New Advice on VAT Administration On Oct 24, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released guidance on how countries can implement effective VAT collection systems for cross-border trade, particularly concerning digital/electronic supplies. The guidance, which is entitled, Mechanisms for the Effective Collection of VAT/GST, relates mostly to design options […]

Interview with Christiaan van der Valk, Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on the Digital Economy. This interview was originally published by the International Chamber of Commerce at: https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/real-time-controls-changing-trade-know/ What ICT trends are currently on your business’s radar? There are many trends, but I’d say that one of the most significant is where companies are increasingly […]

When I read this recent social media initiative by CloudTrade, my first reaction was a wave of nostalgia for the debate about VAT e-invoicing requirements that raged in Europe between 2005 and 2010. During those years, emotions ran high between e-signature haters and e-signature proponents in the context of B2B electronic invoicing. The first group […]

The efforts involved in planning and executing the introduction of VAT is a big task for any one country, let alone for a group of neighboring countries to attempt at the same time. Nonetheless, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), currently Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, have during the last couple of years […]

As businesses consider technology to support compliance, there are two primary types of solutions they can choose: point or scalable. In a recent infographic, we examined how point solutions (which are deployed locally and support a minimal number of regulations) stack up against scalable solutions (which are available globally or regionally for a variety of […]

New and evolving VAT compliance and audit mandates are putting a lot of pressure on businesses, making them reevaluate how they internally manage indirect tax determination and reporting. Nearly one-third of CFOs told Grant Thornton that keeping up with the volume and complexity of compliance changes is one of their biggest challenges. Traditional compliance approaches […]

Several modifications to the Spain’s SII Real-Time Reporting mandate are expected to go into effect during 2018 and beyond. We already announced that SII will expand to Basque Country and Navarra on January 1, and now we’re anticipating additional changes to launch simultaneously   Annual Reports due by January 30, 2018. SII reporting obligations for 2017 […]

International News European Commission Proposes VAT Overhaul On October 4, 2017, the European Commission published a set of proposals aimed at simplifying and modernizing the current VAT system. The “cornerstone” principles of the Commission’s approach are: • Combating VAT fraud and reducing the €150 billion VAT Gap • Establishing a “One Stop Shop” for cross-border […]