Regulatory Analysis
The Queen’s Speech for 2017, delivered before Parliament on June 21, outlined 27 bills that will make up the government’s agenda for the next two years, including eight bills devoted solely to Brexit. A proposed “Customs Bill,” which would seek to ensure that the UK has a standalone customs regime upon leaving the European Union, is […]
The Greek Tax Administration has issued Circular letter No. 1080/2017, confirming that VAT on bad debts is not recoverable in most situations. The tax administration explains that only in very limited cases can VAT corresponding to transactions that have been declared bad debts become deductible, such as when the debtor has been declared in bankruptcy by […]
The Portuguese Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributaria) has issued a new procedure intended to simplify the exemption applicable to purchases made by non-EU travelers visiting Portugal. Diploma-Decree 185/2017 establishes a new electronic system called Simplex +, which is intended to simplify the application of the VAT exemptions for such travelers, reduce their administrative waiting time, and […]
Senate leadership released a discussion draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 – its version of the House’s American Health Care Act (AHCA) intended to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Although this legislation would nullify penalties for the individual and employer mandates, it would not repeal IRS reporting obligations under […]
On July 1, 2017, Colorado’s long anticipated notice and reporting requirements for non-collecting retailers goes into effect. This law requires retailers that do not have sales tax nexus but make $100K or more in annual sales to Colorado customers to report transactions to the state as well as notify purchasers of their use tax obligation. […]
In April of 2017, the Parliament of the Czech Republic passed legislation that made important changes to the Republic’s Value Added Tax (VAT) Law. The act was then published and codified on June 16th, 2017 in the Collection of Laws, as part of publication 170/2017, seen here. Of the changes, the most notable is […]
The Federal Tax Administration has announced the following revisions to the VAT Act, effective January 1, 2018: First, all companies resident in Switzerland and all companies providing services in Switzerland will be liable to collect and remit taxes in Switzerland if their global turnover from non–exempted services exceeds 100,000 CHF. Second, the reduced […]
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced that leadership plans to release a “discussion draft” of their version of the AHCA bill on Thursday June 22^nd^, with a vote to be held on a final bill one week later. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release a report concerning the Senate bill early next […]
Bermuda’s Ministry of Finance has launched its Tax Information Reporting Portal, through which Financial Institutions and filers may enroll in and exchange account information pursuant to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS). The Ministry has also published a User Guide for navigating the Portal. It provides an overview of commonly used functionalities within the Portal […]
The German BZSt (Tax Office) has published an Infobrief to address some final matters before the start of this year’s FATCA filing season. The BZSt online portal will be available for FATCA transmittals beginning on June 19. Both mass data interface (ELMA) and manual data entry will be operational from this date forward. However, […]
Two proposals to transform European VAT law have failed to gain approval of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). Both proposals needed unanimous approval of the delegates to become law. ECOFIN began its meeting of June 16 by debating a proposal that would allow Member States to apply reduced VAT rates to electronic […]
California recently released an updated version of Publication DE-154, Electronic Funds Transfer Bulk Filer Setup Guide. The purpose of this guide is to provide instruction for payroll agents who use the ACH Debit method to electronically pay the Payroll Tax Deposit using Form DE-88. This publication also provides detailed information on formatting files to submit […]
The Spanish Tax Administration (AEAT) recently released a comprehensive set of files, tools, and documents necessary for the full implementation of the Immediate Information Remittance System (SII Version 1.0). As a final test step before actual go-live, AEAT announced that from June 21 through June 29 taxpayers and solution providers may begin submitting SII reports […]
After nearly two years of negotiations, representatives from the European Commission and Norway initialed an agreement on VAT cooperation in May of 2017. The agreement will facilitate administrative cooperation between the parties, and will provide a legal framework to combat VAT fraud and assist in the recovery of VAT claims. The initialed agreement will officially […]
By a vote of 590 to 8, with 10 abstentions, the European Parliament has formally agreed to allow Member States the option of applying reduced VAT rates on electronic books, newspapers and periodicals. This proposal, as put forth by the European Commission, is designed to bring the VAT treatment of e-publications in line with the […]
According to a report from Reuters, the German Economic Ministry has recently been analyzing a possible reduction in the country’s 19% VAT rate, as part of a larger analysis of German trade surpluses. A ministry spokesperson did not deny the report, but stated that a VAT reduction would have a minimal effect on existing surpluses, and that […]
On June 12 of 2017, the Italian Tax Authorities (ITA) issued Protocol No. 110418, to further implement the principles of EU administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of VAT. The purpose of the new rules is not only to identify potential VAT Fraud, but also to empower the ITA to cancel VAT numbers […]
On June 8, 2017, twenty European Union Member States voted to establish a new European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which will be given broad powers to combat cross-border VAT fraud. The EPPO is envisioned as an independent body with the power to investigate fraud in all participating Member States; it will also be able to […]