Regulatory Analysis

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

According to the ruling 166579/2020, from 20 April 2020, the version 1.6 of the technical specifications of the FatturaPA introduced by ruling 99922/2020 is now applicable as of 1 October 2020 on a voluntary basis and will be mandatory starting on 1 January 2021. Taxable persons may use the schema attached to version 1.5 of […]

We recently reported that the new “JPK with the declaration” JPK_V7M (monthly) and JPK_V7K (quarterly) periodic VAT reporting files (a combined Uniform Control File and VAT Return) were due to be implemented from 1 April 2020 for taxpayers defined under Polish legislation as being large businesses. However, as part of a new “Anti-Crisis Shield” (Tarcza […]

HMRC has informed Sovos that it is extending the soft landing period for MTD digital links until 1 April 2021, for all taxpayers. The effect of this is that businesses will now have until their first VAT return period starting on or after the 1 April 2021 to have digital links in place. Our understanding […]

The Hungarian Tax Authority announced that the deadline to implement the mandatory real time reporting version 2.0 xsd is postponed from 1 April 2020 to 1 July 2020. It is important to note that 2.0 xsd can already be used live in parallel with Version 1.1 xsd. Official announcement can be found at the following link: https://onlineszamla.nav.gov.hu/home

The new “JPK with the declaration” JPK_V7M (monthly) and JPK_V7K (quarterly) periodic VAT reporting files are due to be implemented from 1 April 2020 for taxpayers defined under Polish legislation as being large businesses.  To recap, this means any businesses undertaking operations in Poland that in at least one year of the last two financial […]

The European Commission has released some Customs Guidance Notes in readiness for the implementation of the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) due to commence on 1 July 2021. This guidance complements the VAT Explanatory Notes on the importation and returning of low-value e-commerce goods that were issued back in October 2020. The guidance offers clarifications […]

In 2019, many European Union Member States took advantage of the alignment of physical publications and electronic publications, recently allowed by Council Directive (EU) 2018/1713.  It appears 2020 is no different, as the following Member States have followed suit: Austria Electronic publications in Austria are currently taxed at the standard VAT rate of 20%, while physical […]

Since July 2018, taxpayers in Hungary have been obliged to disclose the data of electronic invoices issued for transactions with accounted VAT exceeding HUF 100,000 (approximately €300). This data must be transmitted to the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NAV) in a structured manner once the electronic invoice has been issued.  This fiscal obligation […]

From July 1, 2020, on an experimental basis, Italian taxpayers (i.e. businesses resident and established in Italy) may submit pre-completed VAT returns. Specifically, Article 16 of recently enacted Decree n. 124/2019 provides that data gleaned from transactional information supplied from electronic invoices via SDI, cross-border transactions, as well as data collected on fees electronically will […]

From 1 November 2019, the Polish Ministry of Finance (“MoF”) will implement the Binding Rate Information scheme (“WIS”), a facility enabling taxpayers to apply to the MoF for a legally binding agreement on the VAT rate pertaining to a specific good or service (or combination of goods and services).  Most WIS agreements will only become […]

The European Council and the United Kingdom have agreed to defer the latter’s departure date from the European Union until January 31, 2020. The agreement has been labeled a “flextension,” because it leaves open the possibility of an earlier departure date, should the two sides successfully negotiate a Withdrawal Agreement. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in […]

The Polish Ministry of Finance has published a regulation in the Journal of Laws detailing the structure of the new JPK_VAT standard audit file (labelled up to now with the title “JPK_VDEK”), filing of which will become mandatory for large taxpayers from 1 April 2020 and for small and medium taxpayers from 1 July 2020. Taxpayers […]