Portugal’s VAT Regime

Portugal pushes further ahead with VAT digitization

Back in 2019, Portugal passed a mini e-invoicing reform consolidating the country’s framework around SAF-T reporting and certified billing software.

Since then, a lot has happened: non-resident companies were brought into the scope of e-invoicing requirements, deadlines were postponed due to Covid, and new regulations have been published.

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Quick facts

• Use of certified billing software is mandatory for the creation of all types of invoices (paper or electronic); this is understood to be the taxpayer’s ERP system. Since 2021, non-resident companies with a Portuguese VAT registration have also been obligated to issue invoices and other fiscally relevant documents via certified billing software.
• A QR code should be included in all invoices issued through certified billing software. Technical specifications about the content and placement of the code in the invoice are available on the tax authority’s website.
• A unique ID number (ATCUD) must be included in all invoices and fiscally relevant documents. The ATCUD is a number with the following format ‘ATCUD:Validation Code-Sequential number’.
• Public entities must receive e-invoices whilst companies must send e-invoices since 1 July 2021. E-invoices must be issued electronically in the CIUS-PT format and transmitted to the public administration through one of the available web services.
• A qualified electronic signature or seal, or the use of EDI with contracted security measures is mandatory for all electronic invoices from 1 January 2026.
• Billing SAF-T has monthly submission requirements and must be completed with the normal VAT return by the 5^th (until the 8th during the year of 2023 due to a grace period) day of the month following the reporting period. The Billing SAF-T may be submitted via the e-fatura portal or through web services.
• Accounting SAF-T: annual submission is mandatory from 2027 via the tax authority´s portal which will enable automatic pre-filling of the VAT IES´ Annexes.

Important dates

• 1 July 2021: Non-resident taxpayers required to use a certified billing software to issue invoices and other fiscally relevant documents.
• Issuance of B2G e-invoices:
• 1 January 2021: Phased rollout of mandatory issuance of e-invoices in the CIUS-PT format for large suppliers of the public administration.
• 1 January 2022: QR code requirement implemented for invoices and other fiscally relevant documents issued through a certified billing software.
• 1 January 2023: Unique ID number (ATCUD) is mandatory on all paper and electronic invoices.
• 1 January 2023: Non-resident taxpayers required to submit Billing SAF-T monthly.
• 2026 fiscal year: Mandatory annual submission of accounting SAF-T for residents and non-residents (first submission occurs in 2027 regarding the fiscal year of 2026)
• 1 January 2025: Mandatory B2G E-invoicing extended to include small and medium-sized businesses.
• 1 January 2026: Qualified electronic signature/seal or EDI mandatory for electronic invoices.

Need help to ensure your business is VAT compliant in Portugal?

Sovos provides a complete VAT, SAF-T and B2G compliance solution for Portugal helping customers meet the demands of the digital transformation of tax and public procurement through a single provider. Sovos uniquely combines local expertise with a seamless, global customer experience.

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The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) announced the finalised rules for the Saudi Arabia e-invoicing system earlier this year, announcing plans for two main phases for the new e-invoicing system.

The first phase of the Saudi Arabia e-invoicing system is set to go live from 4 December 2021.

With the mandate just around the corner, we’ve highlighted the latest news on a reform that is still evolving.

The Detailed Guidelines

The latest documentation communicated on the requirements was the Detailed Guidelines, published in August 2021. The Detailed Guidelines provided clarity on the following topics:

• Even though tax invoices must be generated electronically, they can be shared by sellers to buyers in an agreed format. For the first phase, the agreed format to exchange invoices may be electronic, human readable format, or a paper format. However, in the second phase, only XML format or PDF/A-3 with an embedded XML can be used to exchange e-invoices. In case the human readable format is used, it must be in Arabic (in addition to any other language) and Arabic or Hindi numerals can be used.
• A printed copy of the simplified tax invoice must be provided to the buyers, however, and based on mutual agreement between the seller and buyer, the invoice can be shared electronically or through any other way where the buyer can read it.
• The e-invoices generated by a third party will contain an electronic mark indicating this fact. This marker will be generated automatically and will not be visible on the human readable version of the e-invoice. The human readable format of the invoice must contain a statement declaring that the invoice is a third-party billing invoice.
• For the second phase, specific integration requirements will be published in the future.

Overview of readiness for the first phase

The first phase requirements are not as complex as the second phase requirements that will be enforced from 1 January 2023.

The ZATCA has been successful in providing taxpayers with the necessary information. The go live date is set to go ahead as planned and a delay is not currently expected.

On 1 July 2021 the EU E-Commerce VAT Package was introduced. The package replaced existing distance-selling rules and extended the Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) into a wider-ranging One Stop Shop (OSS).

The implementation of the EU E-Commerce VAT Package was designed to simplify the VAT reporting requirements for sellers and improve the tax take for Member States.

Two months in: we take a look at how it’s going.

Delays and teething problems

There were unfortunately some initial delays and teething problems when the EU E-Commerce VAT Package was introduced, which is to be expected with the adoption of such a significant new system, but as with any new scheme these can be resolved over time.

Some examples include:

• Netherlands system issues: The introduction of the system in the Netherlands appeared to cause an IT glitch whereby Article 23 licenses to defer import VAT were not recognised. As a result, importers were asked to pay VAT at the border. This caused delays in imports and onward delivery at the beginning of July. Once the Dutch tax authority became aware of this issue it implemented a temporary fix and the issue is now resolved.
• Inconsistencies in data submission: There are inconsistencies in how taxpayers must communicate data to the relevant tax authority. The EU proposal foresaw a portal where all transactions could be uploaded, but this hasn’t materialised yet.
• Varying file format requirements: Some Member States require data to be submitted in a .csv file whilst others ask for submissions in a .txt file. The Netherlands requires taxpayers to key data directly onto its website.
• Data issues: There have been issues around receiving data and Sweden was briefly unable to receive data but this was quickly resolved (in less than a week).
• IOSS processing errors: Some freight forwarders used the shipment date and not the payment date resulting in some consignments that didn’t qualify for IOSS to be processed under IOSS. This will lead to an underpayment of VAT and it will be necessary to reconcile the data.
• Intrastat reporting: There is currently no mention in either the Directive or the explanatory notes of how Intrastat should be reported.

Issues with the import of goods

There are also issues associated with the import of the goods.

Some Member States disallow the import of certain categories of goods due to local restrictions e.g. foodstuffs, plants etc.

It’s sometimes unclear if freight forwarders have used IOSS or not and this could lead to repeated errors of underpayment or overpayment of VAT.

Some non-EU vendors are trying to avoid an IOSS registration by stating that the customer is the importer of record. Such practice happened before the introduction of IOSS but not always at the same level as it is now – and was not always spotted or queried.

However, since the introduction of the IOSS, some tax authorities, including Germany, are questioning such an approach on the grounds that the carrier who imports the goods is acting for the non-EU vendor and is not known by the buyer.

This means import VAT is due by the vendor who must then also charge German VAT. For cases that have already occurred there may be an issue with recovery of the import VAT, as the evidence required to support the deduction will have been issued in the wrong name (consumer).

It’s still early days for the EU VAT E-Commerce Package and initial teething problems are to be expected. One thing is certain, navigating these new VAT schemes is complex. Sovos is here to help and we’ll keep you updated on the latest regulatory changes.

Want to know more about simplifying EU VAT with IOSS?

Join our latest webinar on September 22, 2021 to learn how you can use the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) to simplify your EU VAT compliance and unlock the full potential of the EU e-commerce market.

Simplify EU VAT with IOSS – Unlock the EU E-Commerce Market

Time: 3:00pm BST / 10:00 EDT 

Date: September 22, 2021

Join our latest webinar to learn how you can use the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) to simplify your EU VAT compliance and unlock the full potential of the EU e-commerce market.

Since July 2021, the low value consignment relief on small packages has been removed. From the same date, businesses selling imported goods valued at less than EUR 150 can now use IOSS to collect, declare and pay VAT to the local tax authorities in one single VAT return. IOSS simplifies your EU VAT compliance – making it essential to grow sales in the EU, avoid fines and penalties, and provide an excellent customer service.

Join Consulting Services Director Alex Smith and Senior Consultant Russell Hughes in this webinar to learn:

• What is IOSS?
• Registering and appointing an intermediary
• Benefits of using the scheme
• How Sovos can help

We will host a short Q&A session at the end of this webinar.

Register now

Need more information? Sovos’ VAT managed service provides a full IOSS service for your business. In addition to proving an intermediary service, we handle the IOSS registration and monthly filling. Click here to find out more. 

Back in 2019, Portugal passed a mini e-invoicing reform consolidating the country’s framework around SAF-T reporting and certified billing software.

Since then, a lot has happened: non-resident companies were brought into the scope of e-invoicing requirements, deadlines have been postponed due to Covid, and new regulations were published. This blog summarises the latest and upcoming changes.

QR Code

Introduced in 2019, the de facto implementation of the QR code requirement was delayed, and is now expected to be fully implemented by taxpayers in January 2022. A QR code should be included in all invoices. Technical specifications about the content and placement of the code in the invoice are available on the tax authority’s website.

ATCUD – Unique ID and validation codes

The ATCUD is a unique ID number to be included in invoices and is part of the content of the QR code. The ATCUD is a number with the following format ‘ATCUD:Validation Code-Sequential number’.

To obtain the first part of the ATCUD – the so-called ‘validation code’ -, taxpayers must communicate the document series to the tax authority along with information such as type of document, first document number of the series, etc.

In return, the tax authority will deliver a validation code. The validation code will be valid for the whole document series for at least a fiscal year. The second part of the ATCUD – the ‘sequential number’ – is a sequential number within the document series.

This month, the Portuguese tax authority published technical specifications for obtaining the validation code, creating a new web service. To access this web service, a specific certificate obtained from the tax authority is required and can be assigned to taxpayers or software service providers.

In addition, the tax authority has created a standard list of document classes and types, enabling the communication of document types in a structured format.

An ATCUD will be required in all invoices from January 2022. To be ready for the deadline, taxpayers must get the series’ validation codes during the last half of 2021 to apply in invoices issued in the beginning of 2022.

Obligations for non-resident companies

In April this year, Portugal clarified that non-resident companies with a Portuguese VAT registration should comply with domestic VAT rules. This includes the use of certified billing software for invoice creation, among others. These companies must also ensure integrity and authenticity of e-invoices. In Portugal, integrity and authenticity of invoices are presumed with the use of a qualified electronic signature or seal, or use of EDI with contracted security measures.

Consequently, since 1 July 2021, non-established but VAT registered companies must adopt certified billing software to comply with the Portuguese law as required by Law-Decree 28/2019, Decision 404/2020-XXII, and Circular 30234/2021.

E-invoices in B2G scenarios

The Portuguese e-invoicing mandate for business-to-government transactions includes a format requirement attached to specific transmission methods. In other words, invoices to the public administration must be issued electronically in the CIUS-PT format and transmitted through one of the web services made available by the public administration.

Initially, a phased roll-out started in January 2021, obliging large companies to issue e-invoices to public buyers. In July, the subjective scope was enlarged to include small and medium-sized businesses. The last step is to include microenterprises by January 2022.

Due to the Covid pandemic, Portugal established a grace period that has been renewed several times, whereby PDF invoices would be accepted by the public administration. Currently, the grace period runs until 31 December 2021, meaning that, in practice, all suppliers of the public administration, regardless of their size, should comply with the e-invoicing rules in public procurement by 1 January 2022.

In our last look at Romania SAF-T, we detailed the technical specifications released from Romania’s tax authority. Since then, additional guidance has been released including an official name for the SAF-T submission: D406.

Implementation timeline for mandatory submission of Romania SAF-T

• Large taxpayers (as designated by the Romanian tax authorities) – 1 January 2022
• Medium taxpayers – guidance indicates 2022, no official date released yet
• Small taxpayers – 2023

To alleviate taxpayer concerns due to the complexity of the report and difficulties with extraction, the tax authorities are introducing a voluntary testing period which is due to begin in the coming weeks. During this period, taxpayers may submit what is known as D406T which will contain test data that the authorities will not use in the future for audit purposes.

Submission deadlines for Romania SAF-T

The Romanian SAF-T, D406, is based on the OECD schema version 2.0 which contains five sections:

• General Ledger
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable</li<
• Fixed Assets
• Inventory

The submission deadlines are as follows:

• Periodically (until the last calendar day of the month following the reporting period) – for information on General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable
• Annually (until the deadline for submitting the financial statements for the financial year) – for information on Fixed Assets
• On Demand (within the term established by the fiscal body, which may not be less than 30 calendar days from the date of request) – for information on Inventory

Taxpayers must submit sections of D406 monthly or quarterly, following the applicable tax period for VAT return submission.

For the first report, tax authorities have announced a grace period for the first three months of submission. This is from the date when the deposit obligation becomes effective for that taxpayer, where non-filing or incorrect filing will not result in penalization if correct submissions are submitted once the grace period ends.

Submission information for Romania SAF-T

The D406 must be submitted electronically in PDF format, with an XML attachment and electronic signature. The size of the two files must not exceed 500 MB. If the file is larger than the maximum limit, the portal will not accept it and the file must be divided into segments according to details set out in the Romanian guidance.

The tax authorities have indicated that, should a taxpayer find errors in the original submission, a corrective statement may be submitted to rectify these errors. The taxpayer should submit a second full corrected file to replace the original file that contains errors. If a taxpayer submits a second D406 for the same period, it is automatically considered a corrective statement.

Welcome to our Q&A two-part blog series on the French e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate, which comes into effect 2023-2025. That sounds far away but businesses must start preparing now if they are to comply.

The Sovos compliance team has returned to answer some of your most pressing questions asked during our webinar.

We have outlined the new mandate, e-invoicing specifically, and questions around this topic in our first blog post.

This blog will look at the other side of the mandate – e-reporting obligations. These will apply to B2C and cross-border B2B transactions in France, which must be periodically reported.

Payments E-reporting

First let’s look at common questions around payments e-reporting.

What are the invoice and payment statuses to be reported?

Here is a slide from our webinar showing invoice statuses, whether these are mandatory, recommended, or free, origins, action to take if rejected, status data, and when it needs to be reported:

Who is responsible for payment e-reporting? The buyer, the seller, or both?

It was initially rumoured to be both on the buyer and the seller side, but the latest information from DGFIP clearly states that it will be the responsibility of the seller to report the invoice status, and, if applicable, its payment status.

Some further clarification is needed though since the seller is dependent on the buyer’s response on some status (e.g. ‘invoice rejected’).

‘Partner’ platform certification requirements

Your e-invoicing and e-reporting project cannot be done in isolation. This is a significant project with many dependencies that involve external third parties.

There will be one or, in most likelihood, several third parties in the middle of the transaction chain. This will include Chorus Pro, chosen by the French government as the official and obligatory platform for businesses to issue e-invoices to public administrations.

This section covers common questions on partner platform certification requirements.

Is there a list of official validated partner platforms?

The 13 July 2021 DGFIP workshop dedicated to this matter highlighted that there would be a registration process for third-party platforms, as well as taxpayers who would want to run their own platform.

The registration process will consist of two phases:

Phase 1. A prior selection by the tax authorities based on the general profile of the candidate (e.g. are they up to date in their own tax payment duties?) and the services they propose;

Phase 2. Within 12 months after registration, an independent audit would have to performed that demonstrates that the platform meets the DGFIP requirements, such as:

• • Updating of the e-invoicing central directory
  • Issuing, transmitting / receiving e-invoices (including guaranteeing integrity and authenticity, as well as an advanced authentication process)
  • Processing and transmitting to Chorus Pro e-invoicing, e-reporting and payment status data

<liPerforming the control and mapping activities (extraction of invoicing data for both e-invoicing and e-reporting, certain invoice validation checks – mandatory fields, check sums, Customer ID verification – mapping to and from a minimum set of mandatory formats, compliance with GDPR, etc)

A few other key points to note are:

• The registration and audit would need to be periodically renewed.
• The consequences for non-compliant platform are not defined, an escalation process leading to the withdrawal of the registration would apply.
• The platform operator might be French or foreign (although there is still a question mark as to whether non-EU operators will be permitted).

Implementation timeline

What is the current expectation on when exact required fields with be supplied by the government (invoice specs with all required fields and values)?

Excel files are available as a draft document at a very detailed level which Sovos can provide on request. The final specs should be known by the end of September 2021.

In our recent webinar, Sovos covered the new French e-invoicing and e-reporting mandate, and what this means for businesses and their tax obligations.

We are witnessing a global move towards Continuous Transaction Controls (CTCs), where tax authorities are demanding transactional data in real-time or near real-time, affecting e-invoicing and e-reporting obligations.

As such, from 2023, France will implement a mandatory B2B e-invoicing clearance and e-reporting obligation in an effort to increase tax efficiency, cut costs, and fight fraud.

The pace towards this mandate has been accelerating lately with the adoption of the Finance law for 2021, followed by a number of workshops organised by the Ministry of Finance — namely the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFIP).

In the first of two blogs on the mandate, we answer some of your most pressing questions asked during our webinar.

In part one, we focus on setting the scene in terms of scope, and cover questions around e-invoicing specifically, invoicing file formats, processes and controls, and archiving.

The second blog covers questions around e-reporting obligations.

Scope of the regulation

In this section, we answer questions on the scope of the regulation, such as which companies must comply with the mandate and how.

Are non-resident companies (foreign companies with only a French VAT-registration) obliged to fulfil this new regulation? Are foreign legal entities with a French VAT number in scope?

The Budget Laws for 2020 and 2021 introduced the CTC scheme from a legal perspective. Both include “persons subject to VAT” in the scope.

VAT registration is a strong indication that a company is subject to VAT, but classification as a VAT “taxable person” also depends on other factors.

Therefore, it is not as simple as just looking at whether a company has a local VAT registration, to decide whether it is subject to VAT and therefore targeted by the mentioned budget laws.

However, the scope cannot be unilaterally decided by France as the French CTC scheme is dependent on a derogation from the EU Council.

As a comparison, Italy initially included all taxable persons in the scope of its e-invoicing clearance mandate, including those with a mere VAT registration but no establishment. But in this case, the EU Council limited the scope (of its derogation) to persons established in Italy.

From an e-invoicing perspective, we can therefore expect that France will need to follow the Italian path (due to its reliance on a derogation from the EU Council), limiting the scope to established persons.

DGFIP has however suggested that companies that are non-established but VAT registered will be in scope of the reporting obligation.

Is import of goods in the scope of e-reporting? What about import of services?

Only imports (supplies from outside of the EU) of services are in the scope of the current proposal.

E-invoice formats

In this section, we discuss permitted e-invoice formats.

The fact that the new regime creates a specific process for domestic B2B e-invoicing does not change the need for businesses to demonstrate the integrity and authenticity of each invoice.

This can be done through one of the 3 legal methods defined by the existing regulations:

• EDI
• Qualified electronic signature or seal
• The Business Controls option using Audit trail

To ensure there’s no impact of the reform on integrity and authenticity demonstration methods, one can still apply any of them.

However, with the new regime, e-invoicing data sent to the DGFIP does need to be in a structured format.

Will digital signatures be required?

Digital signatures are not strictly required today and will not be strictly required in the new scheme. Integrity and authenticity will still need to be ensured though, irrespective of invoice format, as is the case today.

The options remain the same; use of digital signatures, use of EDI with security measures, or the BCAT option whereby the audit trail should prove the transaction and its authenticity and integrity.

Are PDF and XML invoice file formats still possible to receive from 2023-2025?

The legal invoice format can be anything, as long as the supplier and buyer agree on it and the integrity and authenticity are guaranteed. Also, a human readable version (normally a PDF) is required upon audit as part of the general EU requirements.

What e-invoicing formats are permitted?

This is not fully defined yet, but DGFIP has indicated the following syntax, based on the EN16931 standard:

• Structured format: UBL invoice / CII D16B / XCBL
• Hybrid format: Minimum UBL invoice / CPP hybrid / FACTUR-X (PDF-A3) / Minimum CII

Those formats would apply to:

• Submission of invoicing data to Chorus Pro by suppliers who don’t go through a partner platform
• Issuing of legal invoice by Chorus Pro to buyers who don’t use a partner platform
• Reporting of clearance data (out of the legal e-invoice) to Chorus Pro by the supplier’s partner platform
• Exchange of legal invoices by the supplier and buyer partner platforms unless they agreed to some other format (NB: for this last case, partner platforms should be able to process those formats at a minimum level by default. But nothing would prevent them from deciding to use any other format if both the supplier and the buyer agree, e.g. EDIFACT).

E-invoicing process and controls

In this section, we answer questions around the processes for sending and receiving e-invoices, what information they need to include, and the Chorus Pro platform.

Will the e-invoice need to be sent real-time?

Yes, it can be considered a “real-time clearance system”. As part of the e-invoicing obligation, the reporting of mandatory data to the tax authorities and the issuance of the original invoice to the buyer by the supplier’s partner platform should happen right after receiving the invoicing data from the supplier.

If the invoice doesn’t have all the mandatory information like the SIRET number of a customer, will the Chorus Pro platform clear it?

• It will be mandatory to mention the SIRET number (ID) of the French trading parties.
• For non-French EU parties, the VAT intracom number will need to be mentioned.
• For non-EU parties, some local ID will be expected.
• If the applicable ID is missing, the data will be rejected by Chorus.
• If the ID is wrong, the invoice will be addressed to the wrong buyer and will eventually have to be cancelled (if e-invoicing) or may be penalised by tax authorities if audited.

Will Chorus Pro also be validating the VAT rates used?

No, or at least not on the fly when submitting the invoicing data to Chorus Pro. Our understanding is that those verifications will be done by the tax authorities after the fact, using data analytics / AI algorithms.

Are there common data, connection and bridges with the current SAF-T?

The French version of SAF-T (FEC) must still be available on demand from the tax authorities.

Archiving

In this section, we answer questions around compliant archiving of e-invoices.

Does the Chorus Pro/Tax Authority portal provide a compliant electronic archive for AP/AR invoices in France?

Yes. However, in our experience, even though a tax authority’s archiving solution would be available for taxable persons, few larger companies choose to solely rely on it for evidence purposes and instead continue to use their compliant internal or third-party archiving solutions.

This decision is ultimately based on the fact that the tax authority’s archiving solution poses a conflict of interest: it is maintained by the tax authority, which, from a legal perspective, is not an independent party but rather the counterparty in a fiscal claim.

In fact, from discussions with many experts and customers over that past year, we see that the market request for third-party archiving services is even stronger after the introduction of clearance, especially as customers see a need to store not only the invoice but also response messages from the CTC portal to further maintain evidence of compliance.

What is Intrastat?

Intrastat is a reporting regime relating to the intra-community trade of goods within the EU.

Under Regulation (EC) No. 638/2004, VAT taxpayers who are making intra-community sales and purchases of goods are required to complete Intrastat declarations when the reporting threshold is breached.

Intrastat declarations must be completed in both the country of dispatch (by the seller) and the country of arrival (by the purchaser). The format and data elements of Intrastat declarations vary from country to country, though some data elements are required in all Member States. Reporting thresholds also vary by Member State.

How is Intrastat being modernised?

In an effort to improve data collection and ease the administrative burden on businesses an ‘Intrastat Modernisation’ project was launched in 2017. As a result of this project Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 (the Regulation on European business statistics) was adopted.

• The repeal of Regulation (EC) No 638/2004, effective from 1 January 2022.
• The implementation of a new mandatory data exchange program between EU Member States relating to intra-community deliveries.
• Making data exchange of data on intra-community arrivals in EU Member States optional.

The practical effects of these changes are two-fold:

• Member States are required to collect additional data as part of the Intrastat Dispatch reports. This means that taxpayers making intra-community deliveries will need to record and report this additional information.
• The regulation paves the way for Member States to potentially phase out Intrastat arrival reports, as the mandatory exchange of dispatch data makes separate arrivals reporting redundant. Reporting thresholds for arrivals tend to be lower than for dispatches and it’s expected that removing the need to report arrivals will eventually lead to less businesses having to participate in Intrastat reporting – unless the reporting threshold is reduced. Additionally, business who are involved in both intra-community dispatches and arrivals will halve their reporting obligation.

What information are Member States currently required to collect as part of Intrastat?

Currently Member States are required to collect the following information as part of Intrastat:

• VAT Number of reporting party
• The reference period
• The flow of goods (arrival, dispatch)
• The 8-digit commodity code (Combined Nomenclature)
• The Member State goods are dispatched to or from
• The value of the goods
• The quantity of the goods
• The nature of the transaction

What additional information will Member States need to collect from intra-community exporters by 1 January 1 2022?

• The VAT number of the recipient of goods
• The country of origin of the dispatched goods

What additional information are Member States currently allowed to collect as part of Intrastat?

• The identification of the goods, at a more detailed level than the Combined Nomenclature
• The country of origin, on arrival
• The region of origin, on dispatch, and the region of destination, on arrival
• The delivery terms
• The mode of transport
• The statistical procedure

What optional information can Member States provide mandatory exchange of intra-community exports?

• The delivery terms
• The mode of transport

Exceptions to Intrastat requirements

To ease compliance burdens on small businesses, EU Member States are allowed to set thresholds, under which businesses are relieved of their obligations to complete Intrastat. Thresholds are set annually by Member States, and threshold amounts for arrivals and dispatches are set separately.

Under the current regulations, Member States cannot set thresholds at a level that results in less than 97% of dispatches from the Member State being reported and cannot set thresholds at a level that results in less than 93% of intra-community arrivals to the Member State being reported.

Under current regulations Member States are allowed to let certain small businesses report simplified information, so long as the value of trade subject to simplified reporting does not exceed 6% of total trade.

Under the upcoming new regulation, Member States need only ensure that 95% of dispatches are reported and the exchange of data on intra-community arrivals between Member States is optional.

Take Action

Need to ensure compliance with the latest Intrastat requirements? Get in touch with our tax experts.

Progress has been made in the roll-out of the Polish CTC (continuous transaction control) system, Krajowy System of e-Faktur. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance published a draft act, which is still awaiting adoption by parliament to become law. Draft e-invoice specifications have been released and there has been a public consultation on the CTC system.

In June, the Ministry of Finance announced it had reviewed all comments submitted by the public and Polish ministers on the CTC system and decided to take the following actions:

• Make the CTC system available for testing in October 2021 to prepare for the go-live date in 2022.The pilot will be available for all taxpayers.
• Adopt and publish legislation in October 2021.
• Make available two e-invoice schemas, one in Polish and one in English.
• Roll-out the CTC system on a voluntary basis in January 2022, after 3 months of testing (October – December 2021).
• Make the CTC system mandatory in 2023.

In the announcement, the Minister outlined the benefits of adopting the CTC system for taxpayers. These include: quicker VAT refunds; security of the stored invoice in the tax authority’s database until the end of the mandatory storage period; certainty about the invoice delivery to the recipient through the CTC platform and therefore quicker invoice payments; automation of the invoice processing and exchange due to the adoption of a standardized e-invoice format.

In addition, as a result of the new e-invoicing rules upcoming changes in the SLIM VAT 2 package will trigger further relief measures, e.g. around the handling of duplicates and corrective invoices.

The Polish authorities are making good progress in the implementation of the Krajowy System e-Faktur. It is positive to see that the public consultation has proven useful in defining next steps and the authorities’ intent for transparency and timely documentation will hopefully continue throughout the entire CTC roll-out.

Want to know more

To find out more about what we believe the future holds, download Trends: Towards Continuous Transaction Controls.

For more information see this overview about e-invoicing in Poland, Poland SAF-T or VAT Compliance in Poland.

Meet the Expert is our series of blogs where we share more about the team behind our innovative software and managed services.

As a global organisation with indirect tax experts across all regions, our dedicated team are often the first to know about new regulatory changes, ensuring you stay compliant.

We spoke to Wendy Gilby, technical product manager at Sovos, to find out more about her role developing Sovos’ Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) software to help customers meet the demands of a constantly changing regulatory environment.

How did you come to work at Sovos?

Prior to joining Sovos I worked at an investment bank in London, working my way up from trainee programmer to programmer, analyst, business analyst, systems analyst, project manager, global production support manager and eventually vice president.

Due to personal circumstances, I started working part time and was even briefly a rowing coach before heading back to university to complete a Computing and IT degree.

I was looking for another role in IT and originally worked for FiscalReps (now part of Sovos) on a short-term contract in 2016 or 2017. This is the product that we now know as Sovos IPT which needed testing to ensure it was fit for purpose.

After completing the project, I came back on a six month contract, which became a full-time permanent position and I’m still here today!

What is your role and what does it involve?

My role is to work out how to implement any modifications to the Sovos IPT system. We agree with the wider Sovos IPT team what new functionality or changes they want and work closely with the development team to convert the ideas into the solutions that our customers use.

I’ve recently been looking at the Sovos VAT solution to try and see the synergies between VAT and IPT in terms of user set up, user roles, uploading data, and initial validation on the files that we get from clients to improve the overall user experience for our IPT solutions.

What’s your team responsible for and how do they help customers?

We’re always trying to make the whole process of filing taxes more efficient, and a lot smoother for customers, whichever country they file their taxes in.

We’ve spent a lot of time refining the IPT Portal to make the process of filing and reporting IPT easier but also more compliant. We’re trying to eliminate as many of the manual steps involved in filing taxes as possible to reduce errors.

Sovos is a blend of technology and human expertise so we work closely with the compliance team who ensure reporting is accurate and compliant across all the tax authorities our customers file IPT in.

Our aim is to automate and integrate as much of the filing process as possible from data submission to receiving funds and submitting to the tax authorities to ensure we don’t miss any tax return dates and avoid late fees.

How are you using the latest technology to improve Sovos customers’ experience?

This probably ties into the work we’re doing on the IPT Portal. We’re trying to make everything more transparent so customers can see everything in one place including the status of their tax returns.

We’ve also introduced APIs as well, so customers can send us a file straight from their system, it’s a lot less hassle for them. We’re always focused on making it easier for customers to send us their data and providing as many options as possible to do this.

How have you seen the technology change since you joined Sovos? What has had the biggest impact?

I think the biggest impact has been the IPT Portal. When I started, much of the reporting processes were still paper based which meant a lot of sifting through paper tax return documents for the compliance team ahead of filing.

So having the IPT portal with all the documents that used to be printed out in one place, where clients can view everything online, has been the biggest change and one that our customers and our compliance team value, especially over the past year when companies have had to adapt to working remotely and not having as easy access to resources in the office.

What particularly excites you about future tax technology?

I think it’s the move towards a more connected reporting processes, joining all these disparate elements of tax returns to make the IPT reporting and filing process even easier and far less error-prone. As certain elements still require some manual input there’s still opportunities for mistakes so eliminating this concern altogether and making it a simple process from initial upload to submission to the tax authorities is really exciting.

Automated returns are becoming more prevalent and we’re in the process of working on these for Germany, France and Hungary so when I say future it’s actually already happening which is very exciting.

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More than 170 countries throughout the world have implemented a VAT system, and some of the most recent adopters are the Gulf countries. In a bid to diversify economic resources, the Gulf countries have spent the past decade investigating other ways to finance its public services.

As a result, in 2016 the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), consisting of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, signed the Common VAT Agreement to introduce a VAT system at a rate of 5%.

The first step: VAT adoption across the GCC

Following the VAT agreement, Saudi Arabia and UAE implemented VAT in 2018. Bahrain followed with a VAT regime in 2019. Most recently Oman enforced a 5% VAT from April 2021, and looking ahead both Qatar and Kuwait are expected to enact VAT laws within the next year.

The second step: VAT digitization

After the implementation of VAT and the increase of VAT rate from 5% to 15%, Saudi Arabia has taken the next step to digitize the control mechanisms for VAT compliance.

The E-invoicing Regulation enacted in December 2020 sets out an obligation for all resident taxable persons to generate and store invoices electronically. This requirement will be enforced from 4 December 2021.

Saudi Arabia has made considerable progress since it first introduced VAT in 2018. The Saudi E-invoicing Regulation is expected to not only encourage digitization and automation for businesses, but also to achieve efficiency in VAT controls and better macro-economic data for its tax authority, a development which will likely be replicated by other GCC countries soon.

Considering the efforts involved in the digitization of government processes and the VAT implementation timeline, the next candidate for similar e-invoicing adoption would likely be the UAE. While there are currently no plans for a mandatory framework, the UAE has announced bold plans for general digitization. According to the UAE government website, “In 2021, Dubai Smart government will go completely paper-free, eliminating more than 1 billion pieces of paper used for government transactions every year, saving time, resources and the environment.”

The spread of VAT digitization is typically the second reform following VAT adoption. As Bahrain and Oman also have VAT systems in place, introduction of mandatory e-invoicing in the next a few years in these countries would not come as a surprise. The adoption of e-invoicing in Qatar and Kuwait would depend on the success of VAT implementation, therefore it is not easy to estimate when their VAT digitization journey will begin but there is no doubt that it will happen at some stage.

The next step for VAT adoption across the GCC

After the adoption of e-invoicing, the Gulf countries may continue to digitize other VAT processes, including VAT returns. Pre-population of VAT returns using the data collected through e-invoicing systems is another trend that the countries are moving towards.

Regardless of the shape and form of digitization, there will be many moving parts in terms of VAT and its execution. Businesses operating in the region should be prepared to invest in their VAT compliance processes to avoid unnecessary fines and reputational risk for non-compliance.

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To find out more about what we believe the future holds, download VAT Trends: Toward Continuous Transaction Controls. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up-to-date with regulatory news and updates.

Infographic
Easier VAT Reporting with Sovos Advanced Periodic Reporting
Periodic VAT reporting takes time. Data must be accurate, its format must be correct, deadlines cannot be missed and additionally the frequency of submissions puts significant pressure on teams responsible for VAT reporting.
Add to these challenges frequent changes in regulation, cross-border complexities and also the fact that no single jurisdiction operates the same, and it’s clear that that your business would benefit from automating and centralising periodic VAT reporting.
This infographic explains how both global and multinational companies can meet their periodic VAT reporting obligations through the power of technology with Sovos Advanced Periodic Reporting (APR).
Sovos APR can help with:
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• Improving the quality of VAT returns and declarations
• Validating data integrity
• Meeting periodic VAT reporting obligations and deadlines
• Simplifying how you work with greater visibility and dashboards
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The many benefits of Sovos APR
Lower total cost of VAT compliance
Manual tasks can be automated, processes are easily standardised, and you can also reduce your reliance on outsourcing providers. These advantages, coupled with the ability to lower management costs associated with keeping systems up-to-date, quickly add up.
Greater operational efficiency
Tax professionals need the right resources (both people and tools) at the right time. Sovos APR ensures you can continuously safeguard indirect tax compliance in a way that above all saves time and enhances accuracy. As a result, you can redeploy resources to focus on more strategic deliverables.
Seamless integration with VAT Compliance Solutions Suite
Sovos APR is an integral part of a fully scalable solution suite that addresses all VAT compliance obligations, including e-invoicing and e-archiving. Solve tax for good at a scale that suits your specific business.
What else does Sovos APR offer?
Need more detail on Sovos APR? This infographic dives deep into the solution and also how it helps tax professionals solve their periodic VAT reporting challenges.
This includes:
• Global outlook – Dedicated reports for a growing number of countries; whilst 60+ countries are monitored for regulatory changes.
• Universal templates – Additional proprietary reports can also be created to facilitate VAT analysis in 208 jurisdictions, both national and subnational
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Read the infographic now to learn how Sovos APR can:
• Save you time while providing complete visibility of your filing obligations
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• Enhance decision-making and also maximise operational efficiency
Sovos APR lets you efficiently review everything from a centralised platform. Stay on top of any regulatory changes while remaining compliant both now and in the future.
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A current mega-trend in VAT is continuous transaction controls (CTCs), whereby tax administrations increasingly request business transaction data in real-time, often pre-authorising data before a business can progress to the next step in the sales or purchase workflow.

When a tax authority introduces CTCs, companies tend to view this as an additional set of requirements to be implemented inside ERP or transaction automation software by IT experts. This kneejerk reaction is understandable as implementation timelines tend to be short and potential sanctions for non-compliance significant.

But businesses would do better to approach these changes as part of an ongoing journey to avoid inefficiencies and other risks. From a tax authority perspective, CTCs are not a standalone exercise but part of a wider digital transformation strategy where all data that can be legally accessed for audit purposes is transmitted to them electronically.

It’s all about the data

In many tax authorities’ vision of digitization, each category of data is received at ‘organic’ intervals that follow the natural cadence of data processing by the businesses and data needs of governments.

Tax administrations use digitization to access data more conveniently, on a more granular level, and more frequently.

A business that doesn’t consider this continuum from the old world of reporting and audit to the new world of automated data exchange risks over-focusing on the ‘how’ – the orchestration of messages to and from a CTC platform – rather than keeping a close eye on the ‘why’ – transparency of business operations.

Data received quicker and in a structured, machine-exploitable format is infinitely more valuable for tax administrations as it gives them an opportunity to perform deeper analysis of both varying taxpayer and third-party sources of data.

If your business data is incomplete or faulty, you are likely exposing yourself to increased audits, as your bad data is under scrutiny and more transparent to the taxman.

Put differently, in a digitized world of tax, garbage-in will translate to garbage-out.

How to prepare for CTCS – automation is key

Many companies already have the magic formula to fix these data issues at their fingertips. Start by preparing for this wave of VAT digitization with a project to analyse internal data issues and work with upstream internal and external stakeholders – including suppliers – to fix them.

Tools designed to introduce automated controls for VAT filing processes can help achieve better insight into the upstream data issues that need ironing out. These same tools can also help you through the CTC journey by re-using data extraction and integration methods set up for VAT reporting for CTC transmission, thereby creating better data governance and keeping a connection between these two naturally linked processes.

A lot of bad data stems from residual paper-based processes such as paper or PDF supplier invoices or customer purchase orders. Taking measures now to switch to automated processes based on structured, fully machine-readable alternatives will make a big difference.

Improving invoice data is not the only challenge. With the inevitable broadening of document types to be submitted under CTC rules (from invoice to buy-side approval messages, to transport documents and payment status data) tax administrations will cross-check more and more of your data, as well as trading partners’ and third parties’ data — think financial institutions, customs, and other available data points.

Tax administrations are unlikely to stop their digitization efforts at indirect tax. Mandates to introduce The Standard Audit File for Tax (SAF-T ) and similar e-accounting requirements show how quickly countries are moving away from the old world of tax and onsite audits.

All this data, from multiple sources with strong authentication, will paint an increasingly detailed and undeniable picture of your business operations. It is just a matter of time before corporate income tax returns will be pre-filled by tax administrations who expect little to no legitimate changes from your side.

‘Substance over form’ is a popular aphorism in the world of tax. As more business applications and data streams become readily accessible by tax administrations, you need to start considering data quality and consistency as a first step towards thriving in the world of digitized tax enforcement.

Aim for more, not less, insight into your business than the taxman

In the end, tax administrations want to understand your business. They don’t just want data, they want meaningful information on what you do, why you do it, how you trade, with whom and when. This is also exactly what your owners and management want.

So the ultimate goals are the same between businesses and tax administrations – it’s just that businesses will often prioritise operational efficiency and financial objectives whereas tax administrations focus on getting the best, most objective information possible.

Tax administrations introducing CTCs as an objective may be a blessing in disguise, and there are benefits of introducing better analytics to your business to comply with tax administration requirements.

The real value lies in real-time insight into business operations and financial indicators such as cash management or supply chain weaknesses. This level of instant insight into your own business also enables you to always be one step ahead, leaving you in control of the picture your data is providing to governments.

CTCs are the natural next step on a journey to a brave new world of business transparency.

Take Action

Download VAT Trends: Toward Continuous Transaction Controls for other perspectives on the future of tax. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up-to-date with regulatory news and developments.

 

Update: 23 March 2023 by Dilara İnal

Japan’s Qualified Invoice System Roll-out Approaches

Japan is moving closer to the roll-out of its Qualified Invoice System (QIS), which will happen in October 2023.

Under QIS rules, taxpayers will only be eligible for input tax credit after being issued a qualified invoice. However, exceptions exist where taxpayers do not require a qualified invoice to take input credit.

The new system does not entail mandatory e-invoice issuance, though QIS introduces the following requirements for invoices:

• The invoice must include the Qualified Invoice Issuer Number (QIIN) of the issuer
• The invoice must include a breakdown of applicable tax rates for that given transaction, as well as the consumption tax amount

While only taxpayers can register and obtain a QIIN, a supplier exempt from Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) can register under the QIS – provided that it voluntarily applied to become a taxpayer.

In line with the implementation of the new invoicing system, the Japanese government’s 2023 Tax Reform introduces new measures for the QIS transition. It is implementing efforts to reduce the tax liability amount for three years.

The measures will also lessen the administrative burden on businesses below a specific size for six years. The government will allow companies to take an input tax deduction for book purposes, but only for small-amount transactions.

Need assistance preparing for Japan’s QIS? Our expert team is ready and waiting to speak with you.

 

Update: 13 July 2021 by Coskun Antal

What is Japan’s Qualified Invoice System?

Japan is in the middle of a multi-year process of updating its consumption tax system. This started with the introduction of its multiple tax rate system on 1 October 2019 and the next step is expected to be the implementation of the so-called Qualified Invoice System as a tax control measure on 1 October 2023.

Through this significant change, the Japanese government is attempting to solve a tax leakage problem that has existed for many years.

The cascade effect of multiple tax rates

The Japanese indirect tax is referred to as Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) and is levied on the supply of goods and services in Japan. The consumption tax rate increased from 8% to 10% on 1 October 2019. At the same time, Japan introduced multiple rates, with a reduced tax rate of 8% applied to certain transactions.

Currently, Japan doesn’t follow the common practice of including the applicable tax rate in the invoice to calculate consumption tax. Instead, the current system (called the ledger system) is based on transaction evidence and the company’s accounting books. The government believes this system causes systemic problems related to tax leakage.

A new system – the Qualified Invoice System – will be introduced from 1 October 2023 to counter this. The key difference when compared to an invoice issued today is that a qualified invoice must include a breakdown of applicable tax rates for that given transaction.

Under the new system, only registered JCT payers can issue qualified tax invoices, and on the buyer side of the transaction, taxpayers will only be eligible for input tax credit where a qualified invoice has been issued. In other words, the Qualified Invoice System will require both parties to adapt their invoicing templates and processes to specify new information as well as the need to register with the relevant tax authorities.

Preparing for the Qualified Invoice System in Japan

A transitional period for the implementation of the new e-invoicing system applies from 1 October 1 2019 until 1 October 2023.

In order to issue qualified invoices, JCT taxpayers must register with Japan’s National Tax Agency (“NTA”). It will be possible to apply for registration from 1 October 1 2021 at the earliest, and this application must be filed no later than 31 March 2023, which is six months in advance of the implementation date of the e-invoicing system. Non-registered taxpayers will not be able to issue qualified invoices.

The registered JCT payers may issue electronic invoices instead of paper-based invoices provided that certain conditions are met.

What’s next?

The introduction of the Qualified Invoice System will affect both Japanese and foreign companies that engage in JCT taxable transactions in Japan. To ensure proper tax calculations and input tax credit, taxpayers must make sure they understand the requirements, and update or adjust their accounting and bookkeeping systems to comply with the new requirements in advance of the implementation of the Qualified Invoice System in 2023.

Take Action

Get in touch with our experts who can help you prepare for the Japanese Qualified Invoice System.

Download VAT Trends: Toward Continuous Transaction Controls to find out more about the future of tax systems around the world.

Turkey’s e-transformation journey, which started in 2010, became more systematic in 2012. This process first launched with the introduction of e-ledgers on 1 Jan 2012 and has since reached a much wider scope for e-documents.

The Turkish Revenue Administration (TRA), the leader of the e-transformation process, has played an important role in encouraging companies to embrace the digitalization of tax and created a successful model for following tax-related procedures.

You can read more about Turkey’s e-transformation in our e-book Navigating Turkey’s Evolving Tax Landscape.

The process was further accelerated with new requirements for e-documents.

Latest developments and expectations in Turkey’s e-transformation

The TRA continues to widen the scope of e-documents and the types of e-documents in use are:

• Expense E-Note: This application helps you create electronic expense notes in accordance with TRA standards, retain electronic and hard copies of these notes, submit them to relevant parties and prepare reports.</
• E-Bank Receipt: With this application, you can create electronic bank receipts in accordance with TRA standards, keep copies of receipts or submit these copies to relevant parties and prepare reports.
• E-Foreign Exchange Receipt: This allows you to convert forex trading documents into electronic documents via relevant institutions and banks.</
• E-Insurance Commission Expense Letter: This is an expense note which is created by insurance brokers in an electronic format according to the legislation.
• E-Insurance Policy: This document is the electronic version of insurance policies issued by insurance, pension and reinsurance brokers.
• E-Tab: This document shows the list of orders placed by customers in restaurants and cafés.

The digitization journey of e-documents

Many taxpayers have voluntarily adopted the new system since the TRA launched this whole process and TRA’s latest updates for e-documents are critically important to monitor for tax-related procedures.

As e-documents become more popular, any income loss arising from tax procedures will reduce. E-documents offer additional advantages for public institutions and private businesses, such as saving time, minimising costs and improving productivity. It’s certain that the scope of e-documents in Turkey will keep expanding in the future, which will affect taxpayers and tax procedures.

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In this blog, we provide an insight into continuous transaction controls (CTCs) and the terminology often associated with them.

With growing VAT gaps the world over, more tax authorities are introducing increasingly stringent controls. Their aim is to increase efficiency, prevent fraud and increase revenue.

One of the ways governments can gain greater insight into a company’s transactions is by introducing CTCs. These mandates require companies to send their invoice data to the tax authority in real-time or near-real-time. One popular CTC method requires an invoice to be cleared before it can be issued or paid. In this way, the tax authority has not only visibility but actually asserts a degree of operational control over business transactions.

What is VAT?

The basic principle of VAT (value-added tax) is that the government gets a percentage of the value added at each step of an economic chain. The chain ends with the consumption of the goods or services by an individual. VAT is paid by all parties in the chain including the end customer. However only businesses can deduct their input tax.

Many governments use invoices as primary evidence in determining “indirect” taxes owed to them by companies. VAT is by far the most significant indirect tax for nearly all the world’s trading nations. Many countries with VAT see the tax contribute more than 30% of all public revenue.

What is the VAT gap?

The VAT gap is the overall difference between expected VAT revenues and the amount actually collected.

In Europe, the VAT gap amounts to approximately €140 billion every year according to the latest report from the European Commission. This amount represents a loss of 11% of the expected VAT revenue in the block. Globally we estimate VAT due but not collected by governments because of errors and fraud could be as high as half a trillion EUR. This is similar to the GDP of countries like Norway, Austria or Nigeria. The VAT gap represents some 15-30% of VAT due worldwide.

What are Continuous Transaction Controls?

Continuous transaction controls is an approach to tax enforcement. It’s based on the electronic submission of transactional data from a taxpayer’s systems to a platform designated by the tax administration, that takes place just before/during or just after the actual exchange of such data between the parties to the underlying transaction.

A popular CTC is often referred to as the ‘clearance model’ because the invoice data is effectively cleared by the tax administration and in near or real-time. In addition, CTCs can be a strong tool for obtaining unprecedented amounts of economic data that can be used to inform fiscal and monetary policy.

Where did CTCs begin?

The first steps toward this radically different means of enforcement began in Latin American within years of the early 2000s. Other emerging economies such as Turkey followed suit a decade later. Many countries in LatAm now have stable CTC systems. These require a huge amount of data for VAT enforcement from invoices. Other key data – such as payment status or transport documents – may also be harvested and pre-approved directly at the time of the transaction.

What is e-invoicing

Electronic or e-invoicing is the sending, receipt and storage of invoices in electronic format without the use of paper invoices for tax compliance or evidence purposes. Scanning incoming invoices or exchanging e-invoice messages in parallel to paper-based invoices is not electronic invoicing from a legal perspective. E-invoicing is often required as part of a CTC mandate, but this doesn’t have to be the case; in India, for example, the invoice must be cleared by the tax administration, but it’s not mandatory to subsequently exchange the invoice in a digital format.

The objective of CTCs and e-invoicing mandates is often to use business data that is controlled at the source, during the actual transactions, to prefill or replace VAT returns. This means that businesses must maintain a holistic understanding of the evolution of CTCs and their use by tax administrations for their technology and organisational planning.

What’s on the horizon?

As more governments realise the revenue and economic statistics benefits that introducing these tighter controls bring, we’re seeing more mandates on the horizon. We expect the rise of indirect tax regimes based on CTCs to accelerate sharply in the coming five to 10 years. Our expectation is that most countries that currently have VAT, GST or similar indirect taxes will have adopted such controls fully, or partially, by 2030.

Looking ahead, as of today we know that in Europe within the next few years that France, Bulgaria and also Poland will all introduce CTCs. Saudi Arabia has also recently published rules for e-invoicing and many others will follow suit.

Upcoming mandates present an opportunity for a company’s digital transformation rather than a challenge. If viewed with the right mindset. But, as with all change, preparation is key. Global companies should allow enough time and resources to strategically plan for upcoming CTC and other VAT digitization requirements. A global VAT compliance solution will suit their needs both today and into the future as the wave of mandates gains momentum across the globe.

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With coverage across more than 60 countries, contact us to discuss your VAT e-invoicing VAT requirements.