North America

Regulatory Analysis

Posted September 7, 2018 by Ramón Frias
Mexico Postpones the New CFDI Cancellation Process

After a meeting with the Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Tourism (CONCANACO), the Mexican Tax Administration (SAT) decided to postpone for two months the new process of Cancellation of the CFDI (https://www.sat.gob.mx/noticias/54244/se-prorroga-al-1-de-noviembre-de-2018-la-operacion-del-nuevo-proceso-de-cancelacion-de-facturas). The petition of postponement was based on the fact that a lot of taxpayers were not ready from the technological standpoint, to […]

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Posted September 4, 2018 by Sovos
VAT & B2G Reporting Newsletter: August 2018

Country-by-Country News The Final Countdown to Mandatory eInvoicing in Italy September 1 marked the second milestone of the entry into force of the Italian eInvoicing mandate – this time targeting certain B2C goods purchased by non-EU citizens over a certain amount. But crucially, it also marked the three month, or 122 day, countdown to the […]

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Posted September 4, 2018 by Charles Maniace
Poland Considers Dropping Periodic VAT Return

While nothing is official yet, there have been rumblings out of the Polish Ministry of Finance that sometime in 2019 the Government may do away with the time-tested requirement of submitting a monthly VAT return. In lieu of requiring the monthly return, Poland would incorporate additional data elements into their existing monthly SAF-T (Standard Audit […]

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Posted September 4, 2018 by Ramón Frias
Venezuela Increases the Standard Rate of the VAT

The congress of Venezuela has enacted Decree 3.584/2018, by which the standard rate of VAT will be increased from 12% to 16%, effective September 1, 2018. According to the Decree, the rate increase will be temporary and will last until the end of 2019. This measure is intended to increase the tax collection of the […]

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Posted September 4, 2018 by Charles Maniace
UK Contemplates Hard Brexit

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 […]

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Posted August 10, 2018 by Ramón Frias
Argentina Modifies the Invoicing requirement for Small Taxpayers

 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 […]

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Posted July 27, 2018 by Sovos
South Africa Proposes Amendment to Change VAT Rate

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 […]

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Posted July 16, 2018 by Sovos
UK Publishes Additional Guidance for Making Tax Digital Initiative

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 […]

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Posted June 26, 2018 by Sovos
Panama Releases Roadmap for eInvoice

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 […]

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Posted June 11, 2018 by Andrew Decker
Hungary Publishes Real Time Reporting Regulation

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 […]

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Posted April 23, 2018 by Brendan Magauran
European Council Clears Way for Italy e-Invoicing Requirement

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 […]

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Posted April 2, 2018 by Yujin Weng
China to Lower Select VAT Rates on May 1

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, […]

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Posted April 2, 2018 by Sovos
UK Finance Act 2018 Finalized

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 […]

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Posted April 2, 2018 by Sovos
UK-EU Draft Withdrawal Agreement Published

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 […]

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Posted March 27, 2018 by Brendan Magauran
EU Report on E-commerce Identifies Challenges and Opportunities

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 […]

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Posted March 27, 2018 by Sovos
EU Proposes An Interim Tax On Certain Revenue From Digital Activities

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. […]

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Posted March 21, 2018 by Sovos
South Africa VAT Rate to Increase April 1, 2018

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 […]

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Posted March 19, 2018 by Sovos
UK Publishes the Value Added Tax Regulations 2018

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 […]

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