Blog

UK Amendment Expands HMRC Investigative Powers and Liability Risk

In a move that creates increased liability and risk for non-compliant institutions and individuals in the United Kingdom, HM Treasury recently published an Amendment to the International Tax Compliance Regulations. In summary, the Amendment grants HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) additional power to police AEOI compliance and expands potential liability to both financial institutions and their […]

Read More
Colombia’s DIAN Provides E-Invoicing Update

Now that Colombia’s e-invoicing pilot program has concluded, the country’s tax administration (DIAN) is evaluating lessons learned and next steps prior to unveiling its official e-invoicing legislation. Recently, Sovos was invited to attend a meeting with the DIAN to discuss its plans going forward. Our primary takeaway from the meeting? Nothing is certain yet. What […]

Read More
India Updates AEOI Schema for Filing Year 2017

India recently published an update to Form 61B, which is part of the XML schema used by India for AEOI reporting. The two changes apply to the following fields: The XML Element Name “AcctCatg” was added under Form61B/PartBReportDetails/AccountDtls; The XML Element “CurrCode” was modified by providing all currency codes along with INR were added in […]

Read More
OECD Publishes Updated FAQs and Informational Pages, Turkey Signs MCAA

The OECD has released the April 2017 version of its Frequently Asked Questions, which give detailed explanations on a variety of CRS topics. The following additional issues are addressed in the updated FAQ publication: Qualification of usufruct (a legal right to use and derive profit from property) for CRS purposes Identification of Controlling Persons of […]

Read More
Three Approaches to E-Invoicing Taking Hold Across the Globe

Starting with Brazil in 2008, government-mandated e-invoicing has proven extremely effective in helping tax authorities gain visibility into corporate tax liability in order to close loopholes, eliminate fraud and maximize tax collections. The goal of e-invoicing requirements is to automate tax reporting so that governments no longer have to rely on businesses to self-report their […]

Read More
United Kingdom Enacts Amendments to International Tax Compliance Regulations

The United Kingdom Parliament has passed a set of amendments to the previously enacted International Tax Compliance Regulations of 2015. This legislation governs the responsibilities of British Financial Institutions to comply with both the FATCA and CRS reporting regimes. These new regulations, which are scheduled to come into force on May 17, 2017, modify the […]

Read More
U.S. Manufacturers Face Tax Reform Uncertainty

Tax reform is a primary focus in Washington right now, so it is important that U.S. manufacturers understand how changes could impact their business — particularly with regard to imports and exports. To prepare for these new tax rules, let’s examine how proposals such as raising import tariffs, the Border Adjustment Tax and indirect tax […]

Read More
Luxembourg Opens Testing and Production Platforms for CRS Reporting

The Luxembourg Direct Tax Administration published a newsletter stating that it has opened its pre-validation (testing) and production environments for the filing of CRS returns. Filers are advised to carry out end-to-end tests on the pre-validation platform before submitting any reports. As was the case last year, the platform may be accessed using one of […]

Read More
The Final Countdown to Hungarian Real-Time Reporting?

[UPDATE – June 2017] The likely decision to postpone the implementation of changes in VAT reporting has now finally been announced. Hungary has now postponed the entry into force of this requirement by one year until July 2018 for two reasons: To actually get the technical specification published well in advance To give taxpayers and […]

Read More
Total Control: Three Ways Global Tax Administrations Are Cracking Down on VAT Liability (Part III: Transitional Systems in the European Union)

In this conclusion to our three-part series on how tax authorities in VAT jurisdictions are using e-invoicing to control the VAT return process, we’ll look at some of the transitional systems E.U. governments are leveraging prior to or in lieu of mandating ex-post remittance/validation or ex-ante/real-time invoice validation. Governments are reporting increased VAT revenues as […]

Read More
Supply Chain Financing: Key considerations for success in LATAM

For multinational organizations operating in Latin America, local supplier stability is crucial because production depends on the availability of resources. When there is a long window to receive payment for materials provided, the resulting impact on suppliers’ liquidity may impact their ability to provide resources in the future. Despite the compliance challenges that abound in […]

Read More
Malta Delays CRS Reporting Deadline

The Maltese Inland Revenue Division has announced that the CRS deadline for tax year 2016 reporting has been moved from April 30, 2017 to June 30, 2017.

Read More
Bahamas Announces Registration and Reporting Dates for 2017

The Bahamas Ministry of Finance has released information regarding the timeline for portal registration and reporting for this year’s filing season. The TIE Portal will open for registration and reporting on July 17, 2017 at 9:00am EST and will close on August 25, 2017 at 5:00pm EST. As a general reminder, FIs were required to […]

Read More
Liechtenstein Releases Additional XML Specifications

The Liechtenstein Tax Administration has released a document containing additional XML specifications, which will supplement the FATCA XML Schema v2.0 and CRS XML Schema that Liechtenstein FIs will use to report account information and receive notifications. Reporting Financial Institutions needs to be mindful that their own jurisdiction is allowed to implement their own changes to […]

Read More
Malta Publishes Revised Guidelines for CRS Implementation

The Maltese Inland Revenue Division has published an updated version of its CRS implementation guidelines for Financial Institutions. There is only one significant change of which filers should take note – regarding trustee-documented trusts: During 2017, consolidated reporting by trustees will only be supported through the upload of CRS XML data files using an IRD […]

Read More
Mexico Updates Electronic Nil Reporting Guidance and Security Protocols

The Mexican Tax Administration Service has published an updated version of its electronic nil reporting guidance. The revised version makes clarifications on some matters addressed in the original publication. Additionally, the Service has updated its presentation on security protocols for creating XML files.

Read More
Massachusetts Adopts an Economic Nexus Standard For Remote Sellers and Vendors

Remote sales continue to be an ongoing concern for vendors trying to stay compliant with state and local taxing authorities.  Massachusetts joins a growing list of states that have adopted their own laws and regulations. On April 3, Massachusetts joined the ranks of states defying the Quill decision with its variation on economic nexus for […]

Read More
United Kingdom: Prime Minister Proposes “Snap” General Election

Prime Minister Theresa May has called for an early general election on June 8, claiming it’s the only way to guarantee certainty and stability in Brexit negotiations. The Prime Minister’s Conservative Party is currently polling far ahead of the opposition Labour Party, and her clear hope is that Conservatives will gain enough seats in Parliament […]

Read More