With the rate of change in tax digitization not set to slow down any time soon, it’s more important than ever to keep up with what’s happening where you do business.
This quarter, our VAT Snapshot webinar looks in detail at CTC and e-invoicing implementation timelines across six different countries.
Join Dilara İnal and Carolina Silva from our Regulatory Analysis and Design team for an examination of scope, key timelines and essential milestones for compliance across these jurisdictions.
The webinar will cover:
As always, please bring your questions for our experts in the Q&A at the end.
Stay up to date with the evolving landscape of tax mandates by registering today.
Our latest webinar delves into the intricacies of VAT and reveals key insights into both Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions.
Sovos’ VAT expert Francisco Gomes will share insights for businesses seeking to expand their reach and streamline operations.
In our free 30-minute webinar, you will learn more about:
Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding of VAT in cross-border trade and unlock the growth potential. Find out more details in our webinar filled with practical insights and expert advice to propel your business forward, and bring your questions to the Q&A session at the end.
In July 2023, the French authorities postponed the implementation timeline. A new timeline will be announced with the adoption of the finance law for 2024.
When your organisation trades cross-border, regular changes to the regulatory landscape are a given. Whether those changes are brand-new requirements in a country where you do business or the evolution of existing legislation, you must be ahead of the developments to remain compliant.
With global tax authorities continually making progress with their digitization strategies, the e-invoicing revolution continues at speed.
In this quarter’s instalment of our VAT Snapshot webinar, Kelly Muniz and Enis Gencer from Sovos’ Regulatory Analysis and Design team, will look in detail at anticipated changes in countries with emerging digital strategies and discuss updates to some of the more established regimes.
They will cover:
Join our 30-minute update on 13 July for the latest news, and for an opportunity to put your questions to our speakers.
After a very long few years, we are finally seeing the return of in-person events and experiencing steady growth, especially as summer arrives. However, the industry has adapted to the new normal by utilizing technologies to create engaging virtual experiences.
The demand for events is increasing, whether in-person or online, and companies need to understand the VAT implications.
In this webinar, our VAT experts will cover the essential points your business needs to consider when planning events:
You can help drive the session by telling us which VAT exemptions you want to discuss.
Argentina has recently expanded its perception VAT (Value Added Tax) collection regime to ensure efficient tax administration. It has included selling food and other products for human consumption, beverages, personal hygiene, and cleaning items under its scope.
The Argentinian Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) established this through Resolution No. 5329/2023 in early February 2023.
The new resolution aims to further expand the regime known as “Régimen de Percepción del Impuesto al Valor Agregado” to the categories related to food and other products for human consumption, beverages, personal hygiene, and cleaning items.
Taxpayers who issue invoices concerning these provisions must ensure compliance with the document data requirements, used as evidence of the collection for the final VAT calculation. This will be further discussed in this article.
The VAT Collection Regime in Argentina is a scheme by which the seller, designated as “Collection Agent”, charges the buyer an amount additional to the sale price. As a result, the supplier will charge the fee on top of the purchase value, which includes the price and the VAT.
This new regime obliges VAT-taxable persons to act as collection agents when selling food products for human consumption, beverages, personal hygiene and cleaning items. A few exceptions include meats, fruits and bread made exclusively from wheat flour, among others. Taxable people registered for VAT purposes will also be subject to this regime when acquiring said products.
The collection regime will only apply when each transaction amount exceeds ARS 3000.
The fee amount is determined by applying 3% to the net price of the operation resulting from the invoice or equivalent document.
This percentage will be 1.50% in the case of operations taxed with a rate equivalent to 50% of the general VAT tax rate.
The information and payment of the perceptions carried out under this regime will be reported through the Withholding Control System (SICORE), using code 602.
The resolution also establishes that the only valid document to prove the payment of the perceptions will be the invoice or equivalent document (issued under the current invoicing regulations). The document will record the amount received in a discriminated manner and with express mention of this regime.
Those taxable persons using “Fiscal Controllers” documents of “New Technology” to comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph must use the section “Other Taxes” on the document.
The collection regime will be applicable for taxable events perfected as of 1 April 2023. As a result, sellers of food and other products for human consumption, beverages, personal hygiene and cleaning items will charge the buyer an additional 3% or 1.5% as appropriate on the sale price according to the applicable fee.
Need to ensure VAT compliance in Argentina? Get in touch with our tax experts.
Update: 8 March 2023
South Korea has recently approved a tax reform which introduces several measures for 2023, among which is the possibility of issuance of self-billing tax invoices.
This tax reform amends the current VAT law to allow the purchaser to issue invoices for the supply of goods and services.
However, this will only be allowed in specific circumstances, such as when the supplier cannot issue the invoice. The purchaser can claim a deduction for the related input VAT by issuing a self-billing invoice.
Therefore, issuing self-billing invoices for VAT-exempted supplies of goods and services will not be permitted. However, the issuance of self-billing invoices by the purchaser depends on confirmation from a district tax office.
This amendment will enter into force and apply to all supplies of goods and services from 1 July 2023.
This South Korean tax reform will expand the transactional scope of the country’s e-invoice issuance and continuous transaction control (CTC) reporting system (e-tax invoicing), as the transactions in the scope of e-tax invoicing are generally the same as those in the scope of VAT invoicing.
Interested in learning more about e-invoicing in South Korea? Contact a member of our expert team today.
Update: 17 January 2021 by Selin Adler Ring
Collection of real-time fiscal data is becoming one of the core public finance decision making tools. Transactional data provides a timely and reliable overview of the business sector, enabling governments to rely on analytical data in the decision-making process.
This is what has led many governments to adopt CTC regimes that require taxpayers to transmit their transactional data in real/ near-real time to government services. South Korea was one of the first countries to appreciate the benefits of a CTC regime and mandated reporting of e-invoice data to the government for certain taxpayers as early as 2011.
The year after the first implementation, the South Korean authorities expanded the mandate scope and the e-invoicing system became mandatory for more taxpayers. 2014 saw another expansion of the CTC mandate to reach its current scope.
The current system requires any business that is a corporate entity or an individual whose aggregate supply value for the immediately preceding tax year is KRW 300,000,000 or more to issue an e-invoice to the recipient of goods or services subject to VAT, as well as to report the invoice data to the government.
The South Korean e-invoicing system mandates the issuance of an e-invoice to the recipient and reporting of this invoice data to the government portal within a day of its issuance. Before e-invoices are transmitted, suppliers must digitally sign them with a PKI electronic signature. E-invoices are reported in an XML format to the National Tax Agency (NTS) Portal. Due to the near-real time reporting time-limit, the South Korean e-invoicing system falls under the category of CTC.
South Korea has implemented a comprehensive e-invoicing system from the beginning and as a result there haven’t been any major changes to the requirements or practices. This is a big relief for taxpayers in South Korea compared to other CTC jurisdictions where there are constant changes.
In addition to the benefits for taxpayers, a considered CTC regime is also less burdensome for the state as the implementation costs of the constant regulatory changes can be significant.
More and more governments are considering the adoption of CTC regimes and should look to South Korea as a success story for this approach which has worked well for both the government and taxpayers.
Please get in touch to discuss how Sovos can help your business comply with CTC regime reporting in South Korea or other jurisdictions subject to e-invoicing mandates.
Update: 6 July 2023 by Enis Gencer
The Israel Tax Authority has released a set of guidelines encompassing technical details and other relevant information regarding the implementation of the Israeli Invoice model.
The guidelines state the new model will be a phased implementation that begins with a pilot program in 2024. A key objective of this new model is to address and mitigate the long-standing issue of fictitious invoices in Israel.
Under the newly introduced Israeli Invoice model, taxpayers involved in B2B transactions which exceed a specific threshold will be required to obtain an invoice number. This will be done by contacting the designated tax authority service via APIs and sending the invoice information prescribed by the tax authority.
The guidelines define the set of information that must be reported to the tax authority, including:
Once acquired, the invoice number must be included on the tax invoice. Without this number, taxpayers will not be eligible to deduct input VAT. It is important to note that the tax authority reserves the right to not assign the invoice number if there is reasonable suspicion of any legal inconsistencies concerning the invoice.
Buyers can use the invoice number to access invoice details through the tax authority service. This feature is designed to optimise the process of incorporating the invoice into the taxpayer’s accounting system.
The Israeli Invoice model will be a phased implementation, beginning with a pilot program in January 2024 for invoices exceeding 25,000 NIS (approximately 6,500 euros). During this phase, the tax authority can only reject the request for invoice numbers in cases of technical errors.
As implementation progresses, the threshold will be gradually reduced as follows:
Israel is quickly taking steps towards the introducton of its invoicing system by publishing technical details and its implementation timeline soon after introducing the system formally in February 2023. Taxpayers should now prepare their systems according to the legal and technical guidelines that the tax authority has recently published.
Looking for more information on Israel’s upcoming regulations? Contact our team of experts.
Update: 26 May by Enis Gencer
More details have emerged regarding the implementation of the continuous transaction control (CTC) model in Israel, which was announced to be introduced in the country in February 2023.
As we reported earlier, Israel’s government approved the 2023-2024 budget on 24 February 2023, setting the stage for the adoption of the CTC model. Since then, the proposal has gone through the standard legislative process and it has recently received approval from the Finance Committee, with some modifications.
According to the latest announcement, the modified plan introduces a CTC e-invoice clearance model for invoices exceeding NIS 25,000 (approximately 6,500 Euros) in business-to-business (B2B) transactions. Under this model, invoices must be issued through the tax authority’s system and obtain real-time approval. Taxpayers will not be allowed to use unvalidated invoices for deducting input tax.
The implementation of the CTC e-invoicing model is scheduled to start in January 2024, and by 2028, the threshold will be reduced to NIS 5,000, thus covering smaller amount transactions.
Despite the short implementation timeline, it is important that the authorities publish regulatory and technical specifications in time for taxpayers to prepare their invoicing systems to fully comply with the new requirements by January 2024.
Find more information about Israel’s current e-invoicing system here.
Update: 14 March 2023 by Enis Gencer
Israel’s government approved the 2023-2024 budget on 24 February 2023 to introduce a continuous transaction control (CTC) model in its tax system.
This long-awaited move will have significant implications for businesses operating within the country. It is essential to know the changes that may impact your company.
The new plan, prepared by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the government, envisages an e-invoice clearance model for invoices over NIS 5,000 (appx. 1300 Euros) issued between businesses. Under this model, invoices must be issued through a tax authority system and receive real-time approval.
The tax authority system will issue a unique number as proof of clearance for each invoice, which businesses can then use to deduct input VAT. The government has also proposed that the tax authority be entitled to refuse a request to assign a number and not clear the invoice if there is a reasonable doubt that the invoice is not issued legally.
While this plan is an exciting development, it is only the beginning of a long journey towards implementing a CTC model. The above proposal is currently only outlined in a budget document, which will be subject to further readings and approvals before the government can implement it.
Additionally, an amendment to VAT Law and the publication of technical details will be necessary to make it legally and technically enforceable.
For further information on the digitization of tax in Israel, speak to a member of our team.
Update: 9 April 2020 by Joanna Hysi
With the long-lasting problem of fictitious invoices in Israel, a move towards some form of mandatory e-invoice clearance might be the answer. After having been withdrawn once due to failing support, the idea of a continuous transaction control (CTC) model is being revived by the Israeli tax authority. The proposed model, similar to Chile’s e-invoicing system (clearance), would include a direct connection between the tax authority and businesses in real time for each transaction. The proposal, which is currently being reviewed with interested stakeholders, will be presented to the Knesset Finance Committee, with the hope of promoting legislation for implementing the planned reform measures as soon as a new government is formed.
Subject to final adoption in law, the core points of the reform are:
It’s an interesting observation that for years Israel appeared to be heading towards the EU approach of a post-audit system, yet recently they seem to have pivoted and be heading towards the more Latin American style of continuous transaction controls.
Either way, the Israeli tax authorities are now taking firm measures to combat VAT fraud, as to whether they go for a model similar to Chile, or something close to home in India or Turkey, we will have to wait and see.
For EU-based companies, VAT is chargeable on most purchases and sales of goods within the European Union. As a manufacturing company, this can result in many different VAT rates being charged.
Choosing the right country for entry into the EU can be a tough decision, especially considering countries have their own rules. Take into account that you may not know the location of goods and the situation can soon become complex.
Manufacturers can suffer disruption to their supply chains – which can often already be sophisticated as is – if this is not dealt with effectively. But where to start?
Our VAT experts are here to help. Join them in our upcoming webinar to learn about:
Register by clicking on the following links to hear from our local language experts in English, German, French, Spanish or Italian.
Cross-border business creates complex tax transactions and organisations must stay ahead of the curve as the digitization of tax expands around the globe.
Meet our experts at one of our face-to-face roadshow events where we will bring you up to date on the latest developments in tax digitization. Not only that, but we’ll also explain how Sovos’ end to end solution suite can benefit your organisation, whether it’s VAT determination, e-invoicing or periodic reporting that’s your biggest challenge.
Our half day sessions will also:
Join us in the city of your choice for a morning session and take this opportunity to get all the information you need and ask questions.
Coming to a city near you:
21 February 2023 – Amsterdam – no more spaces
22 February 2023 – London – no more spaces
29 March 2023 – Paris (La Charbonerie – 17 Rue de l’Oasis, 92800 Puteaux)
Cross-border business creates complex tax transactions and organisations must stay ahead of the curve as the digitization of tax expands around the globe.
Meet our experts at one of our face-to-face roadshow events where we will bring you up to date on the latest developments in tax digitization. Not only that, but we’ll also explain how Sovos’ end to end solution suite can benefit your customers, whether it’s VAT determination, e-invoicing or periodic reporting that’s their biggest challenge.
Our half day sessions will also:
Join us in the city of your choice for an afternoon session, and take this opportunity to get all the information you need and ask questions.
Coming to a city near you:
21 February 2023 – Amsterdam – no more spaces
22 February 2023 – London – no more spaces
29 March 2023 – Paris (La Charbonerie – 17 Rue de l’Oasis, 92800 Puteaux)
Part V of V – Christiaan Van Der Valk, vice president, strategy and regulatory, Sovos
Click here to read part IV of the series.
Government-mandated e-invoicing laws are making their way across nearly every region of the globe, bringing more stringent mandates and expectations on businesses. Inserted into every aspect of your operation, governments are now an omni-present influence in your data stack reviewing every transaction in real time as it traverses your network. Real-time monitoring has also brought about real-time enforcement that can range in severity from significant fines to shutting your business down completely. All of this has created a new reality for IT leaders who need a strategy to deal with these global changes. We asked our vice president of strategy and regulatory, Christiaan Van Der Valk to offer his guidance on how this will affect IT departments and how they can best prepare.
Q: With government authorities now in companies’ data and demanding real or near real-time reporting, what impact will this have on IT departments?
Christiaan Van Der Valk: The digitization of VAT and other taxes considerably expands the scope of the finance and transactional systems that need to meet specific – and ever-changing – government requirements. This phenomenon of broadening and decentralizing tax compliance in a company’s system and process landscape happens at the same time that more of these applications (for accounts payable automation, EDI, procurement, supply chain automation, travel and expense management, order-to-cash, customer communications management etc.) are used on a SaaS basis in multitenant mode.
This requires you to take stock of the applications that may come within the scope of VAT requirements in all relevant jurisdictions, and to review vendor contracts to ensure clarity as to responsibility for compliance. Procurement practices to license such external applications may also need to be reviewed to ensure proper contracting around tax compliance from the start.
Q: To meet government mandates and ensure operations continue uninterrupted, what should IT prioritize? What approach would you recommend?
Christiaan Van Der Valk: A key success factor is the degree to which IT and tax can team up to affect change in the organization. The default response to indirect tax changes will be to view these as evolutionary and best resolved by local subsidiaries. The introduction of CTCs, however, is a paradigm shift and one of the consequences is that solving these challenges in a decentralized manner can be harmful to a company’s digital transformation potential. IT and tax need to work closely together to raise awareness among all corporate and country stakeholders on the importance of a coordinated, strategic response to this profound change. The role of tax technologists who specialize in these interdisciplinary challenges cannot be underestimated.
A lot has changed in the world of government mandated e-invoicing. Continued investment in technology by government authorities has put regulators in the position to demand greater transparency along with more detailed and real-time reporting. To meet these demands, companies are looking to their IT organizations. The good news is you don’t need to go it alone. Sovos has the expertise to guide you through this global evolution based on our experience working with many of the world’s leading brands.
Need help keeping up with global mandates? Get in touch with Sovos’ team of tax experts.
Part IV of V – Ryan Ostilly, vice president of product and GTM strategy EMEA & APAC, Sovos
Click here to read part III of the series.
Government-mandated e-invoicing laws are making their way across nearly every region of the globe, bringing more stringent mandates and expectations on businesses. Inserted into every aspect of your operation, governments are now an omni-present influence in your data stack reviewing every transaction in real time as it traverses your network. Real-time monitoring has also brought about real-time enforcement that can range in severity from significant fines to shutting your business down completely. All of this has created a new reality for IT leaders who need a strategy to deal with these global changes. We asked our vice president of product and GTM strategy, Ryan Ostilly to offer his guidance on how this will affect IT departments and how they can best prepare.
Q: With government authorities now in companies’ data and demanding real or near real-time reporting, what impact will this have on IT departments?
Ryan Ostilly: IT teams will have to work hard to ensure their core finance and transactional tax systems have the enhanced capability to extract, transform, remit and consume real-time data with all tax jurisdictions across their global footprint, in compliance with an ever-changing myriad of legal and procedural requirements. With the pace of disruption accelerating, governments are rewriting the rules on taxpayer control and engagement, forcing direct connection and intimacy with the data itself.
I fear that in a growing number of cases, the owners of the data may be functional departments. The IT department will need to evolve its role in this relationship, viewing the government as a critical business partner – one with whom they must always be connected, continuous and complete.
Q: To meet government mandates and ensure operations continue uninterrupted, what should IT prioritize? What approach would you recommend?
Ryan Ostilly: In this modern era of government-initiated tax transformation, the successful IT department will pursue a proactive strategy that prioritizes a connected, continuous and complete framework for government mandates and Continuous Transaction Controls (CTCs). These three principles are:
Connected – Architect a simplified integration and vendor strategy. Reduce exposure to multiple integrations and heavy projects when adopting new jurisdictions or implementing changes.
Continuous – Partner with regulatory and legal experts on a regular basis. Review upcoming mandates and assess the impact on your current and future business requirements.
Complete – Think beyond technical aspects and schemas. Partner with tax subject matter experts when translating and validating mandate requirements, as these outputs will define the financial and tax position of your company with the tax authorities in real time.
A lot has changed in the world of government mandated e-invoicing. Continued investment in technology by government authorities has put regulators in the position to demand greater transparency along with more detailed and real-time reporting. To meet these demands, companies are looking to their IT organizations. The good news is you don’t need to go it alone. Sovos has the expertise to guide you through this global evolution based on our experience working with many of the world’s leading brands.
Need help keeping up with global mandates? Get in touch with Sovos’ team of tax experts.
On 19 May 2022, the Danish Parliament passed a new bookkeeping law – Lov om bogføring – introducing requirements for companies to use a digital bookkeeping system.
Section 16 of the Law requires many Danish companies to use a digital bookkeeping system and make their bookings electronically. The final deadline is yet to be announced but is expected to be July 2024, with the Danish Business Authority announcing they will give businesses enough time to comply with the e-bookkeeping requirements.
The subjective scope of the digital bookkeeping requirements covers all companies in Denmark that are liable for accounting according to section 3(1) of the Financial Statements Act. Moreover, other companies whose net turnover exceeds DKK 300,000 in two consecutive income years are subject to digital bookkeeping requirements. Finally, the rules cover bookkeepers and others who carry out bookkeeping for other companies.
These companies will be required to record company transactions and store records in a digital bookkeeping system. Companies can use a digital bookkeeping system registered with the Danish Business Authority, Erhvervsstyrelsen, or any other bookkeeping system. However, companies who choose the latter option must ensure their systems meet the requirements according to Law for digital bookkeeping systems.
While the new bookkeeping law doesn’t introduce any mandatory e-invoicing or continuous transaction controls (CTC) obligations for businesses, it is envisaged that the digital bookkeeping systems must support continuous registration of the company’s transactions and the automation of administrative processes. This includes automatic transmission and receipt of e-invoices.
This requirement was further detailed in the draft executive order on requirements for standard digital bookkeeping systems, which outlines that the taxpayers:
Moreover, the new bookkeeping law authorised the Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs to introduce rules:
(a) that require companies to record their transactions regarding purchases and sales with e-invoices as documentation of the transactions,
(b) on transmission of records by digital bookkeeping systems to a public receiving point through the shared public digital infrastructure for the exchange of e-documents and the storage of such records.
Although Denmark’s e-invoicing journey is still in the early phases, it seems that the new bookkeeping law and requirements for digital bookkeeping systems lay the foundation for a future e-invoicing mandate to be duly introduced by the Minister for Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs.
It will be interesting to see how and when Denmark’s plans for e-invoicing will take shape and be affected by the upcoming results from the EU Commission on the VAT in the Digital Age project.
If you have any question about Denmark’s new bookkeeping law or e-invoicing requirements in Denmark, please reach out to us: Speak to our tax experts.
Part III of V – Eric Lefebvre, chief technology officer, Sovos
Click here to read part II of the series.
Government-mandated e-invoicing laws are making their way across nearly every region of the globe, bringing more stringent mandates and expectations on businesses. Inserted into every aspect of your operation, governments are now an omni-present influence in your data stack reviewing every transaction in real time as it traverses your network. Real-time monitoring has also brought about real-time enforcement that can range in severity from significant fines to shutting your business down completely. All of this has created a new reality for IT leaders who need a strategy to deal with these global changes. We asked our chief technology officer, Eric Lefebvre to offer his guidance on how this will affect IT departments and how they can best prepare.
Q: With government authorities now in companies’ data and demanding real or near real-time reporting, what impact will this have on IT departments?
Eric Lefebvre: Centralization is the key, but there is a process that needs to be followed to execute correctly. At the outset, centralization needs to start with business processes, practices, tools and standardization on data push/pull technologies across the organization. Next, IT needs to consider data based on SLA-based needs. Starting with:
Delivery Data:
Once this has been solidified, IT can then focus on operational data, which contains:
IT departments need to focus on availability of data by adding multiple replicated sources of that data. Location of data is another critical need driven by mandates mostly shifting to keeping data local, as we are seeing in countries such as Saudi Arabia and many other East Asian nations. IT departments need to ensure that satellite data stores can be provided, which are critical to countries with those specifications. Centralization of processes and tools for delivery of data is step one. For step two, data needs to be split, moving away from storing data for years in a single data store, making it impossible to move/replicate and make it available.
Q: To meet government mandates and ensure operations continue uninterrupted, what should IT prioritize? What approach would you recommend?
Eric Lefebvre: As organizations make the move to a centralized approach, they need to be aware that the blast radius of “failure” affects more than a single country. To combat this, IT organizations need to have strong procedures and plans in place that help to both avoid these situations and quickly limit the damage if a problem does occur. I view it as three distinct focus areas:
Change control procedures. Strengthen impact controls not just for code changes or operational updates, but also include regulatory changes and configuration changes.
Testing procedures. Step away from just regional scope testing and incorporate global end-to-end synthetic testing, starting from the edge service to all the backend servers and back.
Incident management. Pivot from backend monitoring to a central monitoring and outage single pane view, supported by a global operations center in a follow the sun style model.
A lot has changed in the world of government mandated e-invoicing. Continued investment in technology by government authorities has put regulators in the position to demand greater transparency along with more detailed and real-time reporting. To meet these demands, companies are looking to their IT organizations. The good news is you don’t need to go it alone. Sovos has the expertise to guide you through this global evolution based on our experience working with many of the world’s leading brands.
It’s a good year to be an IT leader. After far too many years of the phrase “do more with less” being the mantra of most organizations when it came to technology spending, things are finally looking up.
According to research firm Gartner, IT spending will reach an estimated $4.5 trillion in 2022. This represents a 5.1% increase over 2021 and is a much-needed boost for businesses in need of technology updates that may have been placed on the backburner due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
IT departments are also eager to switch focus from just keeping things afloat to more long-term projects that will strategically and successfully support the future of work. This assertion is backed by numbers provided by IT management solutions firm Flexera in its State of Tech Spend Report.
When asked where budgets were being allocated to this year, 54% of those surveyed expected increased investment and resources to be applied to technology that makes it easier and more seamless for employees to work from home. Another 42% of those surveyed stated a newfound willingness to move to the cloud to support the realities of a post-pandemic world. Participants in this survey were all executives and high-level managers in IT with significant knowledge of their organizations’ overall IT budgets, weighed in on what to expect in the year to come.
These findings show the level of importance businesses are putting on hybrid and flexible work environments. The likelihood that working from home, at least in some capacity, is here to stay has IT departments rethinking their strategies to be prepared to tackle any challenges that may arise.
The strategies being outlined by IT departments are sound and inline with the world in which we now exist. However, there is another post-pandemic force at work with the potential to derail the best laid plans and devour a vast amount of budget and resources. Government mandated e-invoicing.
If you work as an IT leader at a multinational company, you likely fall into one of the two following categories. One, you’ve been brought into deal with the new realities of real-time oversight and enforcement from regulatory authorities. Or two, you are about to be brought into the fray with your own internal mandate, solve this problem for good.
Why am I so definitive in this declaration? Because I work with some of the biggest brands on the planet and I am witnessing firsthand the impacts these mandates are having on their IT organization.
When it comes to IT projects, most are not reactionary but the result of careful and methodical planning over a long period of time. However, the government is changing the rules here. No longer are projects and upgrades on your timeline. When they implement new laws and mandates it’s either you move quickly to address the issue and make it right or you pay the consequences which can range from hefty fines to even losing your license to operate.
As government mandated e-invoicing laws quickly ramp up around the world, they represent a credible threat to your IT budgets. IT departments must be prepared for the new realities that accompany government mandated e-invoicing. With authorities now in the data stack of your businesses examining transactions in real-time as they traverse your network, you will need a solution that enables you to deliver the information in the format required in real-time.
Bottom line, compliance is no longer a tax issue. IT leaders and other senior leadership must work together to align business functions across the board. IT needs to ensure the resources and tools are in place to meet government mandated obligations, no matter the company’s industry or location.
A failure to address the problem early will only lead to more complex and costly problems down the road that will absorb critical budgets and resources earmarked for other priority projects.
If you aren’t sure where to start in building your strategy, reach out to our experts.
It might not quite be THAT red phone that’s ringing, but rest assured, management is currently dealing with a serious problem, and they are looking at IT to solve it for them.
There are two things that make Boards and C-Suites nervous beyond all else. Risks that have the potential to impact the bottom line and company/brand reputation. This current issue can do both and fast if not dealt with timely.
I’m talking about government tax mandates.
Now you may ask, haven’t government mandates been around for decades? Why the urgency now? Yes, they have been around for a long time, but they have never existed in their current form or had the ability to impact your operations so quickly.
Allow me to explain. In the past, organizations around the world were required to report on transactions after the fact and pay the amounts they were legally obligated to pay. If they didn’t, the government might get around to auditing them a few months or years down the road and assess a penalty if things were found to be out of order. In the grand scheme of things, it was a minor inconvenience for businesses and not a real deterrent for having faulty processes or negligence.
That all began to change a few years back when governments began looking at a tax gap that was growing with no easy solutions to reign it in. Think I’m exaggerating? According to the 2021 report on the VAT Gap issues by the European Commission, in 2019 alone EU countries lost out on €134 billion in Value-Added Tax (VAT) revenues legally owed to them by businesses.
This was a wake-up call to every country that employs the VAT system of taxation anywhere in the world. Not only were they losing out on much needed revenues, but the problem was growing worse. Something needed to be done and done fast or they wouldn’t be able to fund vital programs in their countries.
Fast forward to today. Countries have taken a serious look at the problem and have decided that technology is the answer. They have invested heavily in digitization and have brought their capabilities not only up to par with business, but in many cases, probably for the first time in history, have surpassed the capabilities of private industry to monitor and report on financial transactions.
Today, there is no more reporting after the fact. Governments have set up shop right in your data stack and are reviewing transactions in real-time. And with real-time monitoring has come real-time enforcement. If you are not reporting the information the way the government has mandated, you can expect swift action ranging from expensive fines right up to the revocation of your business license in that country. Both would be devastating shots to your company’s financial outlook and reputation.
This is why there is so much urgency to get IT on board and have a strategy to address the issue on a global basis. Things are only going to get more complicated and the ability to scale systems to meet changing tax mandates in all places you do business has become a top priority for companies.
It’s a new world out there as far as VAT is concerned and this is a lot to come to terms with. If this is new information to you or you are in the process of coming to terms with how it impacts your organization, I’d encourage you to remember and share the following five things with your colleagues:
1. The government is in your data
Real time tax reporting is becoming the new norm for businesses worldwide. Governments are no longer satisfied with receiving data after the fact and are now requiring a permanent presence in your data stack.
2. Government data mandates are taking control away from companies
With government mandated e-invoicing taking the world by storm, businesses are left with little time to prepare for this shift. To remain operational and comply with these mandates, IT must create a strategy to ensure that they are meeting mandate obligations while keeping with the parameters of long-term plans and budgets.
3. Data mandates are moving and evolving quickly
As governments are rapidly moving towards mandated e-invoicing implementation, organizations are now faced with an extremely short window to update their tax codes and mandates. For IT departments, overseeing and executing these changes will become one of their top priorities.
4. Data mandates lack consistency from country to country
For international organizations staying up to date on new processes, technologies and regulations are all essential components to running a successful business. However, the different approaches being adopted by each individual regulatory authority are causing a lot of uncertainty for businesses. The challenge for IT is to create the infrastructure that allows the business to meet the individual mandates of each country’s regulatory authority, while also integrating with one another to provide a real time global dashboard of the organization’s compliance status.
5. Governments have increased the severity and speed of enforcement
Tax authorities are becoming more aggressive than ever to close tax gaps. With the use of digital tools and processes, governments can quickly expedite compliance and track tax fraud effectively. In today’s digital world, penalties can be swifter and more severe than in the past. IT needs to ensure that transaction data is presented to regulatory authorities in the format and time frame they demand.
I’m hopeful this information will give you some things to think about as you work through the changing realities of global tax mandates.
After reading this, if you have questions, feel free to reach out to our experts.
Invoicing in Chile is changing on 1 December 2022. This is when resolution 66 from the Chile Internal Revenue Service comes into force.
This new regulation concerns organisations with foreign currency operations. Banks, stockbrokers, exchange houses and financial institutions are affected. Other intermediaries or entities that carry out foreign currency purchase and sale operations themselves or on behalf of third parties are also included.
All these organisations must issue the following:
Every electronic tax document must consider the specifications described by “Electronic Tax Document Format”. This document is available on the Internal Revenue Service’s website and is regularly updated.
Resolution 66 also contains technical instructions. These establish the details necessary for electronic tax documents that support foreign currency purchase and sale operations.
The resolution states the following must be included:
There are other requirements not listed above, so it’s important to check the guidelines.
This change allows the Internal Revenue Service to receive, validate, and process electronic tax documents. This ensures the operations are accurately reflected and prevents inconsistencies.
In the case of commissions, the taxpayer must issue an invoice or electronic ticket containing all the information indicated by the Technical Annex.
If the document doesn’t include an affected item, consider the following:
An example is when there is no commission.
Likewise, when differences in collections and values are subject to VAT, an electronic credit or debit note must be issued.
The following information must be recorded separately as well:
Are you in financial services or working at a bank with more questions about invoicing in Chile? Speak to our tax experts.
A recent preliminary ruling request to the European Court of Justice, Case C-664/21, NEC PLUS ULTRA COSMETICS, has re-emphasised the importance of collecting documentation when carrying out a zero-rated supply in the EU. The 2017 NEC PLUS ULTRA COSMETICS case involved a company established in Switzerland selling cosmetics products under the Ex Works clause from their warehouse in Slovenia to business customers established in Romania and Croatia. Ex Works (EXW) is an Incoterms rule, a set of definitions outlining the responsibilities of buyers and sellers in international transactions. With Ex Works the transport obligations, costs and risks are the buyer’s responsibility.
The tax administration of the Republic of Slovenia inspected NEC PLUS ULTRA COSMETICS and requested evidence and supporting documentation relating to these supplies to verify that goods had been transported to another EU Member State.
NEC PLUS ULTRA COSMETICS provided copies of the invoices and of the ‘Convention relative au contrat de transport international de marchansises par route’ (CMR) consignment notes. The company failed to provide the evidence requested by tax officers to prove the right to tax exempt the supplies to their customers (delivery notes and other documents mentioned in the CMRs).
The company clarified that the reason for the late submission was that the Hamburg office responsible for supplies to Croatia ceased its activities in August 2018, making it more difficult to find the documents asked for by the tax officers.
Consequently, the Slovenian tax authorities provided the company with an additional VAT assessment notice and ordered it to pay the relevant amount.
In the implementation of the Quick Fix related to the proof of transport in 2020, the European Commission has clarified that where the supplier arranges transportation of the goods, it must be in possession of either:
If the acquirer is responsible for transport of goods (i.e. under the Ex Works clause), they must provide the vendor with a written statement by the 10th of the month following the date of supply that the goods have been transported by the acquirer or on the acquirer’s behalf. The written statement must include the following:
In the case of the Ex Works clause:
If you don’t feel reassured by your customer, change the agreement and Incoterms clause before the supply takes place.
Still have questions about VAT exempt supplies and the Incoterms Ex Works clause? Speak to our tax experts.