Regulatory Analysis

HMRC has issued an insurance premium tax (IPT) consultation on Administration and Unfair Outcomes which follows the previous IPT call for evidence in 2019. This consultation focuses on improving IPT administration and preventing IPT avoidance and evasion such as value shifting and unregistered insurers. The deadline for responses is 5 February 2021. More information can […]

The European Commission (“EC”) recently opened a feedback period on an initiative to reform the VAT exemptions applied to financial and insurance services. This period is open for four weeks, ending November 19th, 2020. The initiative aims to address the lack of VAT neutrality and the regulatory complexity and uncertainty in delineating the scope of […]

The European Commission recently updated its “Taxes in Europe” database, a free online resource for EU VAT information, to enable product/service categories and CN code chapters as search criteria. The database provides an overview of VAT rates applied in Member States, including the application of reduced and zero rates.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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.  

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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%. […]

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 […]