Regulatory Analysis
While the official position of the UK Government is that "Hard Brexit" remains an unlikely possibility given the mutual interests in reaching a negotiated withdrawal, Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) nonetheless remains busy drafting rules and guidance which would come into play should the UK exit as of March 29, 2019. Their latest publication […]
On August 3, 2018, the federal tax administration of Argentina (AFIP) enacted Resolutions 4290, 4291 and 4292, which specify deadlines and unify procedures that taxpayers should follow when issuing, reporting and saving invoices. According to these resolutions, regular and small taxpayers, as well those that are not subject or exempt from VAT, should use Fiscal controllers […]
South Africa's Minister of Finance has published a draft amendment, which if enacted, would change South Africa's VAT rate back to 14%. This proposed draft amendment, which is open for public comment, would revert the rate back to 14% and currently has a retro-active effective date to April 1, 2018. The proposed amendment comes after […]
On Friday, July 13, 2018, HMRC released additional information regarding the Making Tax Digital initiative, which is currently set to go into effect in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2019. This new information, contained in; VAT Notice 700/22, includes further details on the requirements of digital records and digital links where data transfer is made between software […]
The Ministry of Finance announced on their Twitter account, a Roadmap for the implementation process of the new eInvoicing regime in Panama. The announcement illustrated that 69% of the implementation process has been completed to date, and that as of June 26, 2018 the tax administration system will start receiving, processing and validating electronic invoices […]
On June 1st, "Decree No. 2/2018 (1 June) of the Minister of Finance" was published in the Hungarian Gazette. The regulation, previously released in draft form earlier this year, provides the basis for the new real time electronic reporting obligation in Hungary which is scheduled to go into effect on July 1. As previously announced, data from […]
On April 16, 2018, the European Council approved Italy's derogation request from Articles 218 and 232 of the EU VAT Directive, bringing Italy one step closer to implementing its mandatory e-Invoicing requirement. Article 218 requires that Member States accept invoices in paper or electronic form. Article 232 provides that electronic invoice can only be used […]
At the Executive Meeting of the State Council held on March 28, Premier Li Keqiang announced additional VAT reform measures directed towards easing the overall tax burden for taxpayers. By way of a recap, last July China eliminated their 13% by making eligible transactions now subject to tax at 11%. This time, effective May 1, […]
On March 15, 2018, Finance Act 2018 was granted Royal Assent by the UK Parliament. The Act makes several changes to direct and indirect taxation in the UK, including new requirements for online marketplaces to display their VAT registration number on the marketplace and, further, an extension of joint and several liability to these types […]
On March 19th, the UK published a first draft of a withdrawal agreement, which although not finalized, indicates that for value-added and excise taxes, much of the status-quo with the European Union (EU) will remain until January 1, 2021. Notably, the Draft Agreement states that the UK and the EU will agree to have the EU […]
The EU VAT Forum (a sub-group of the European Commission) recently released a report on the VAT aspects of E-commerce. The Commission found that one of the biggest challenges facing tax administrations and businesses is how parties access and exchange information in the e-commerce supply chain. Tax Administrations are challenged to devise a way to […]
The European Commission recently proposed new rules to ensure the fair taxation of digital business, placing the EU at the forefront in designing tax laws aimed at the modern digital economy. The Commission is seeking to instate an interim tax to generate immediate revenues for Member States from digital activities that are currently taxed ineffectively. […]
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that the VAT rate increase from 14% to 15% effective April 1, 2018, is still moving forward. Under the South African Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991, Section 7(4), the Minister of Finance has the authority to announce in his budget speech a change in rate for […]
The finalized Value Added Tax Regulations for 2018 (herein "VAT Regulations") have been published by the United Kingdom's Parliament. The VAT Regulations clarify the digital record-keeping requirements that have been announced under the Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative, starting April 1, 2019. Included in the VAT Regulations are definitions for "functionally compatible software" and "API", as well as […]
On February 28, 2018, the HMRC Commissioners presented the VAT Regulations Amendments for 2018 to the House of Commons. The amendments would become effective on April 1, 2019, and are intended to inform businesses impacted by the Making Tax Digital Initiative of their digital record-keeping requirements. Notably, the Amendments clarify the type of information required […]
On March 2, 2018, New Mexico Governor, Susana Martinez, signed House Bill 194 into law thereby allowing purchasers to provide evidence other than a nontaxable transaction certificate to prove eligibility for a gross receipts deduction. Permitted alternative evidence includes: invoices or contracts identifying the nature of the transaction, documentation of the purchaser's use or disposition of […]
South Africa's Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba, presented the 2018 Budget to the National Assembly February 21, 2018. In his speech, Minister Gigaba announced several tax measures to address the budget deficit currently faced by the South African Ministry of Finance. Notably, the Minister has proposed an increase in the VAT rate from 14% to 15%. […]
The UK Parliament is currently debating a bill that could greatly impact how businesses in the UK handle cross-border supplies of goods post-Brexit. The bill, titled Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Bill 2017-19, had it's second reading in front of the House of Commons on January 8, 2018, and is now open for further debate. The primary […]