Blog

Are We in the Golden Age of VAT Recovery?

The value-added tax (“VAT”) was described in the EU as a “”money machine” over 20 years ago. Yet according to a 2015 study by the European Commission by the Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE), the “VAT gap” was approximately 168 billion EUR. This represents 15 percent of the theoretical VAT that would be […]

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As Legal Sports Gambling Grows, So Does Growth in W-2G Reporting

With the NCAA basketball tournament approaching, the US is gearing up for its biggest gambling weeks of the year. And while most “March Madness” pools might technically be illegal, legitimate sports betting is sweeping the US following last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision allowing states to legalize sports gambling in casinos.   As legal sports […]

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Italy E-invoicing: Esterometro Reporting Requirements for Cross-border Transactions Updated

What is Esterometro? The Italian government’s e-invoicing mandate became effective on 1 January 2019.  While cross-border invoices are exempt, all domestic B2B and B2C invoices must be cleared through the SDI platform. This means that the Italian government and tax authority now have real-time access to the data of all B2B and B2C VAT transactions […]

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IRS Notice Is a Reminder that ACA Is Still in Place

The IRS recently published a notice reminding filers that, despite the repeal of the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in last year’s tax reform bill, individuals must still indicate on their returns whether they had health coverage. The ACA remains the law of the land for Tax Year 2018, with individuals still required to […]

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Removing Tax Related Invoice Exceptions from the Procurement Process

Launched at SAP Ariba in March of 2018, Sovos Use Tax Manager, a cloud-based solution that automates use tax determination reconciliation on purchases to accurately self-assess and accrue tax for proper filing, is one of the few innovations in sales and use tax compliance that is focused on improving your procurement process by eliminating invoice […]

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Are State Exemptions “Free Money”?

Many people hear about the exemptions that states allow for unclaimed property reporting, and they get very excited. Free money, what could go wrong? I will share what I know about exemptions and let you decide. Let’s start with a simple kind of exemption. Some states exempt reporting of gift cards or gift certificates that […]

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Sovos Global Tax Determination Certified for SAP S/4HANA

Sovos recently announced that its solution for real-time and batch tax determination, Global Tax Determination, has achieved SAP certification as integrated with SAP S/4HANA®, meaning it integrates with SAP S/4HANA using standard integration technologies. The integration helps organizations provide appropriate tax calculation in both purchasing and sales processes, keeping businesses ahead of increased disparity in […]

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TIGTA Report Could Trigger IRS Action on 1099-K Threshold

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently released a report making some significant recommendations to the IRS to improve taxpayer compliance in the gig economy. While the scope of the audit was intended to focus on compliance with self-employment taxes, the TIGTA quickly realized that the threshold and transaction limits for form 1099-K […]

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Why Compliance in Mexico Is Especially Important for Maquiladoras

Mexico has overhauled its e-invoicing requirements in recent years, and while businesses of all kinds have had to adapt, keeping up with changes is particularly important for maquiladoras. Maquiladoras are manufacturers, often with factories near the border with the US, which have a special designation from the Mexican government that allows them to import materials […]

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Improve the Accounts Payable Process with Invoice Tax Validation

The Chief Procurement Officer may not be the first employee that comes to mind when the acronym CPO is used, yet over 100 of them joined Ardent Partners in Boston a few months ago at the CPO Rising 2018 Summit to exchange and improve the procurement function through innovation and thoughts around P2P, accounts payable […]

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In Brief: 19 Things about Compliant Invoice E-archiving

Most enterprises already have one or several solutions for storing electronic data and documents. However, those systems might not meet compliance requirements for storing original electronic invoices and similar legally critical documents. Here is a brief guide to some of the prominent international requirements for acquiring a compliant e-archiving system.  Compliance maintenance Regulatory monitoring and […]

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How IT Can Reduce the Burden of Wayfair Economic Nexus Sales Tax Rules

The Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v Wayfair no longer limits states to the “physical presence” standard previously required to impose tax collection and remittance responsibility on a business. The new state nexus standards now look to criteria other than physical presence in evaluating a seller’s connection to that state. For example, South Dakota’s […]

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Government Shutdown, New Tax Law to Blame for Weak IRS Processing Numbers

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the volume of returns received and processed by the IRS is down this filing season compared to last year. The question is why, and the answer likely has more to do with the government shutdown and new tax law than with filers missing deadlines. Although it is early […]

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IRS Forms 1099-MISC vs. 1099-K: States Close Tax Reporting Gap

The rise of the so-called “gig economy” in the US has exploded in the last few years – last year, the Bureau of Labor & Statistics reported that 55 million people in the US are “gig workers” which represents about 35 percent of the US workforce — and it is supposed to rise to an […]

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Italy: Is a Last-Minute Moratorium on E-invoicing Fines on the Horizon?

There is no doubt that the roll out of the Italian clearance e-invoicing mandate has kept the e-invoicing market and local taxpayers on their toes. Compliance with the mandate’s legal and technical requirements is not an easy task to fulfil. Consequently, taxpayers of different sectors of the economy, as well as different stakeholders of the […]

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Demystifying the IDC MarketScape for Sales Tax Software and VAT Automation

Sovos being named a “Leader” in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Sales Tax and VAT Automation Applications 2019 Vendor Assessment is a validation of its current and future product and business strategy. For those who are less familiar with IDC and its vendor evaluation process, or who are more familiar with the Gartner Magic Quadrant or […]

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Unclaimed Property Penalties

“We have less than $1,000 to submit, we’ll just do it ourselves.” Does this thought process sound familiar? The thought is if it’s a small amount, it doesn’t matter nearly as much. It’s totally understandable for one to think along these lines. Unfortunately, the states may disagree with you. Regardless of the dollar amount or […]

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3 Reasons Why Financial Institutions Struggle with Use Tax Management

It is the “other” tax, the one that doesn’t generally get the attention that income tax gets. But use tax can be full of nasty surprises for financial institutions (FIs) that don’t have it under control. With jurisdictions cracking down with audits, developing processes to handle use tax is becoming a significant concern for financial […]

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