The EU and the UK use the Economic Operators Registration and Identification System (EORI) to identify traders. What is an EORI number? Businesses and people wishing to trade in the EU and the UK must use the EORI number as an identification number in all customs procedures when exchanging information with customs administrations. The EU […]
According to European Customs Law, non-EU established businesses must appoint a representative for customs purposes when importing goods into the EU. In particular, the Union Customs Code establishes that non-EU resident businesses must appoint an indirect representative. At the end of the Brexit transitionary period, many UK businesses suddenly needed to appoint an indirect representative […]
Sovos recently hosted an online webinar on VAT recovery where we covered reciprocity agreements between the UK and EU Member States when making 13th Directive VAT refund claims. One of the questions that kept coming up is what are reciprocity agreements and why do they matter? Reciprocity When making 13th Directive refund claims, each EU […]
Our previous articles covered audit trends we have noticed at Sovos and common triggers of a VAT audit. This article discusses the best practices on how to prepare for a VAT audit. Each country and jurisdiction may have different laws and requirements related to the VAT audit process. Tax authorities can carry out audits in […]
It’s no surprise that inflation is on the forefront of everyone’s mind, with prices continuing to sky-rocket month by month. Data from the United Kingdom shows that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation jumped to a 40-year high of 9% in the past 12 months. Governments around the world are looking for ways to reduce […]
Since many audits seem to occur at random, it’s not always possible to identify the reason why a tax office would decide to initiate one. We’ve previously spoken about an increased interest in audits from the EU and audits for e-commerce. This article covers the most common reasons behind a VAT audit to help businesses […]
Update: 21 June 2023 Changes are coming to VAT on virtual events. To ensure taxation in the Member State of consumption, all services supplied to a customer electronically will be taxable where the customer is established, has his permanent address or usually resides. Member States must adopt and publish the required laws, regulations and administrative […]
A recent report released by the European Commission has stressed the need for Member States to increase the number of audits they undertake, particularly in e-commerce businesses. The European Commission specifically highlighted the need for Malta, Austria and France to make additional efforts to improve their value-added tax audit practices. They highlighted the seriousness of […]
Eastern European countries are taking new steps concerning the implementation of continuous transaction controls (CTC) systems to reduce the VAT gap and combat tax fraud. This blog provides you with information on the latest developments in several Eastern European countries that may further shape the establishment of CTC systems in other European countries and beyond. […]
Events and conferences typically take a long time to organise and in the early part of 2020 several events that were scheduled to take place were impossible because of the various Covid-19 restrictions. Looking at a loss of revenue, and not knowing how long restrictions would last, many hosts went online and hosted virtual events. […]
Over the past decade, the Middle East region has undergone impactful financial and fiscal changes. VAT was introduced as one of the solutions to prevent the impact of decreasing oil prices on the economy after the region’s economic performance started to slow down. After realising the benefits of VAT to the economy, the next step […]
E-businesses have recently been dealing with the change of rules within the EU with the introduction of the E-Commerce VAT Package but it’s also important to ensure compliance requirements are being met globally. In this blog we look at some of the low value goods regimes that have been introduced over the last few years […]
On 5 April 2022, the EU Council formally adopted changes to the current rules governing reduced VAT rates for goods and services. These amendments to the VAT Directive were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 6 April 2022 through Council (EU) Directive 2022/542 of 5 April 2022 and are effective immediately. The […]
Update: 31 January 2023 by Lorenza Barone Norway extends VAT obligation to Cross-Border Non-Digital Services Norway’s Ministry of Finance has updated legislation involving remotely deliverable services by foreign suppliers. This is effective from 1 January 2023. In 2022, the Ministry proposed to amend the Norwegian VAT Act regarding cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) sales of non-digital services. […]
The Italian government has taken important steps to broaden the scope of its e-invoicing mandate, more specifically by widening the scope of taxpayers subject to electronic invoice issuance and clearance obligations, starting 1 July 2022. On 13 April 2022, the draft Law-Decree, known as the second part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Decreto […]
It’s been just over nine months since the introduction of one of the biggest changes in EU VAT rules for e-commerce retailers, the E-Commerce VAT Package extending the One Stop Shop (OSS) and introducing the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS). The goal of the EU E-commerce VAT Package is to simplify cross-border B2C trade in […]
E-commerce continues to grow, and tax authorities globally have struggled to keep pace. Tax authorities developed many VAT systems before the advent of e-commerce in its current format and the evolution of the internet. Around the world this has resulted in changes to ensure that taxation occurs in the way that the government wants, removing […]
The Philippines continues in constant advance towards implementing its continuous transaction controls (CTC) system, which consists of near real-time reporting of electronically issued invoices and receipts. On 4 April, testing began in the Electronic Invoicing System (EIS), the government’s platform, with six companies selected as pilots for this project. The initial move toward a CTC […]