Regulatory Analysis

Posted October 30, 2020 by Joanna Hysi
Greece: Amendment to myDATA law following previous press release

The changes related to the myDATA scheme announced through a recent press release are now established in law. The scheme remains voluntary for 2020 and mandatory from 1 January 2021, but a new phased timeline has been published and new historical data are in scope. Data issued between October – December 2020 can be reported until […]

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Posted October 29, 2020 by Christophe Bourdaire
Spain – Plan to Increase the IPT Rate From 6% to 8% in 2021

The Spanish Government presented its Budget Law project for 2021 on 28 October 2020. The project includes a plan to increase the insurance premium tax (IPT) rate from 6% to 8%.  This move would increase the revenue generated by IPT in Spain by one third. The Budget Law project will now be debated and votes […]

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Posted October 24, 2020 by Gabriel Pezzato
Portugal: Foreign companies have more time to comply with the obligation to use certified software

Portugal has postponed the obligation for taxable persons that are not established but are VAT registered in Portugal to issue invoices through certified software from 1 January to 1 July 2021.  The tax authority’s decision is available in Portuguese on the tax authority’s website.

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Posted October 14, 2020 by Selin Adler Ring
Oman announces the introduction of VAT in 2021

Important steps have recently been taken towards the long awaited adoption of VAT in Oman, making it the fourth Gulf State to introduce VAT as part of Gulf Union agreement. The Sultan of Oman has issued a Royal Decree (Decree) in relation to VAT implementation. According to the Decree, a 5% VAT rate will be […]

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Posted October 2, 2020 by Joanna Hysi
Greece introduces last-minute changes: myDATA live as pilot for 2020

Yesterday, on the actual go-live date of the myDATA reporting framework, the Greek authorities recategorised the roll-out from mandatory to a voluntary pilot program for 2020. The mandatory phase, which should have started yesterday, has instead been deferred to 1 January 2021. For more information about the announced changes, read our blog.  

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Posted September 11, 2020 by Gabriel Pezzato
Hungary: New technical specifications for the real-time reporting system

The Hungarian tax authority has published new documentation applicable to its real-time reporting system. The documents are now in version 3.0, as follows: XML Schema Definitions: OSA v3 Schemas (last updated 07 Sept/2020) API example XML: API example XML (last updated 07 Sept/2020) Web Application Description file: Application WADL (last updated 07 Sept/2020) According to the Minister of Finance, the version 2.0 can be […]

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Posted August 14, 2020 by Filippa Jörnstedt
Portugal: Invoicing requirements for unique ID numbering and QR code have been published

Beginning 1 January 2021, companies issuing invoices under Portuguese law must proactively inform the Portuguese tax authorities about the number series expected to be applied on invoices, prior to being applied. Once the series has been communicated, the tax authority issues a validation code for each reported number series. The validation code is then used […]

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Posted August 11, 2020 by Gabriel Pezzato
PORTUGAL: New Law Decree-48/2020 removes notification requirements

Portugal has just passed Law-Decree 48/2020, which revokes some obligations that were established in 2019 during the mini e-invoicing reform. Among the obligations stipulated by last year’s Law-Decree 28/2019, taxable persons were to communicate a set of information to the tax authority, including the identification and localization of the company’s establishments that were issuing invoices, […]

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Posted July 21, 2020 by Joanna Hysi
Greece publishes law on e-invoicing incentives

The Greek parliament has adopted legislation (Law 4701/2020) which provides a number of incentives to businesses who decide to use e-invoicing through a service provider during the tax years of 2020-2022. These incentives for example include a reduction of the statute of limitation for fiscal matters by 2 years, and a depreciation of twice the […]

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Posted June 26, 2020 by Denise Hatem
Preliminary Agreement to Postpone EU VAT e-Commerce Package to 1 July 2021

On June 24, 2020, European Union member states’ ambassadors reached a preliminary agreement on postponing the VAT e-Commerce Package from 1 January 2021 to 1 July 2021. Reports indicate that the postponement should be formally adopted by the Council following legal and linguistic review. The European Commission initially proposed the postponement in May due to the impact […]

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Posted June 18, 2020 by Joanna Hysi
Greece places focus on CTC e-invoicing as myDATA bill is signed

The IAPR and the Ministry of Finance have signed the long-awaited bill, which once turned into law will enforce the myDATA system within Greece. According to the IAPR’s announcement, the bill will specify: the scope of application, any exceptions, the data to be submitted, the time, methods of transmission and the specific obligations of businesses. […]

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Posted June 18, 2020 by Jeff Gambold
UK: Further delay to implementation of VAT reverse charge to domestic construction services

UK HM Revenue & Customs has announced that the application of VAT by reverse charge on the provision of construction services in the UK will be delayed from 1 October 2020 to 1 March 2021 (the originally planned commencement date was 1 October 2019).  The revised reverse charge rules will impact any businesses that supply […]

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Posted June 18, 2020 by Jeff Gambold
Germany: Temporary lowering of VAT Standard Rate and Reduced Rate between 1 July and 31 December 2020

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance has announced that VAT rates will be temporarily reduced from 1 July 2020 through 31 December 2020 to stimulate the economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The standard rate is to be lowered from 19% to 16%, and the reduced rate is to be lowered from 7% to 5%. […]

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Posted June 18, 2020 by Muazzam Malik
Czech Republic: New VAT rules for cross-border e-commerce from 2021

The Czech Ministry of Finance has announced the removal of the concession whereby the import into Czech from outside the EU of small consignments valued at less than 22 euros were exempted from import VAT.  This equalizes the VAT treatment with goods arriving from EU countries.  This change will coincide with the adoption of the […]

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Posted May 29, 2020 by Jeff Gambold
European Commission suggests a new levy on large businesses

In conjunction with its revised 1,100 bn budget projection for the period 2021-2027, the European Commission has published its Next Generation EU strategy for alleviating the social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, to be financed by up to 750bn euros of borrowing.  The intention is that this borrowing will be paid back in […]

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Posted May 29, 2020 by Jeff Gambold
Poland: JPK_VAT launch delayed to October 2020

On 28 May 2020, the Polish Ministry of Finance announced that compulsory filing by all taxpayers of the new combined JPK_VAT uniform control file and VAT return structure has been deferred to 1 October 2020 due to compliance challenges arising from coronavirus, according to a Gazeta Prawna report. It was previously deferred to 1 July as […]

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Posted May 11, 2020 by Denise Hatem
European Commission Proposes Postponement of 2021 VAT E-Commerce Package due to Coronavirus

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the European Commission has proposed to defer the application of the VAT e-commerce package from 1 January 2021 to 1 July 2021. The Commission expects that the European Parliament and Council will soon adopt the proposal.

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Posted May 1, 2020 by Ramón Frias
SPAIN: New Reduced Rate for Electronic Publications

Spain enacted Decree 15/2020 by which electronic publications become subject to a reduced rate of 4%. This new rate became effective on April 23, 2020 and applies to all books, magazines, newspapers and similar publications issued digitally. The new decree also establishes a temporary exemption until July 2020, of all imports and intra-EU acquisitions of […]

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