Regulatory Analysis
On September 14, 2017 the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance published the updated lists of companies that qualify for the revised split payment system. The updated lists cover changes to two categories of companies that are subject to the split payment system in Italy: Companies lawfully controlled by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and […]
The Croatian Ministry of Finance has issued clarifying guidance related to the VAT exemptions available to non-profit entities under Article 39(1)(m) of the Croatian VAT Act. Section 1(m) of Article 39 states that "services closely related to sport or physical education performed by non-profit legal persons, to persons engaged in sport or participating in physical […]
Last week, Her Royal Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced the opening of a consultation period regarding the current legislation for the “Making Tax Digital” initiative, which is slated to take effect from April 2019. In its announcement, HMRC provided links to summaries regarding the current content of related legislation, and alerted consumers that they have […]
The European Commission has proposed Poland be authorized to assess a reverse charge on hard drives, such as solid-state drives and hard disk drives, which would impose VAT liability on the purchaser of such items. Article 199(a) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC (“the EU VAT Directive”) currently allows for Member States to impose a reverse charge […]
In its most recent framework for a budget agreement, the Belgian government has proposed giving taxpayers the option to collect VAT on the letting of immovable property, beginning January 1, 2018. This would allow taxpayers to deduct any input VAT incurred on operations such as construction that are directly related to the letting of the […]
On August 8, 2017, the Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF) published an up-to-date list of NATO Headquarters to which deliveries are tax exempt under Article 4 paragraph 7 of the German VAT Act.
The United Kingdom is contesting a charge that "continuous negligence" by its customs agency has resulted in 1.987 billion Euros in lost duties on Chinese merchandise. The Office de Lutte Anti-Fraude (OLAF) conducted a two-year investigation into the matter, and recommended earlier this year that the UK pay the money into the EU budget itself as […]
On August 11, 2017, the European Commission proposed that Romania be allowed to extend its current derogation on VAT threshold for small business registration until December 31, 2020. Romania currently sets its threshold at EUR 65 000 pursuant to a derogation that expires at the end of 2017. The Commission's proposal would extend this derogation […]
The Romanian Ministry of Finance released a draft ordinance introducing a split-payment mechanism for VAT payments on August 4. A revised version of the order was released on August 18th. The order requires that all VAT registered persons must open a dedicated VAT account for the collection and payment of VAT on supplies and purchases […]
On August 11, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published comments to its newly-released 2017 Model Tax Convention. The Convention contains a proposed new paragraph stating registration for VAT has no bearing on the question of whether an organisation has a "permanent establishment" within a jurisdiction; this clarification is especially timely now that a number of […]
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published the latest version of VAT Notice 700, which is a guide for a variety of topics related to VAT. This latest publication simplifies numerous sections of the notice for easier understanding and clarity, and provides additional guidance on topics such as single and mixed supplies of goods, as well […]
In 2016, the European Commission released several proposals for new Directives amending Council Directive 2006/112/EC ("the EU VAT Directive"). The Commission’s first proposal would to introduce an intra-EU VAT threshold and simplified compliance obligations for the Mini-One-Stop Ship (MOSS) scheme for e-services, with the aim of removing VAT barriers to online businesses, particularly start-ups and small-to-medium […]
As part of an effort to facilitate a better understanding and increase compliance of taxpayers subject to the Supply of Information System (locally known as SII), which became effective July 1, the Spanish tax administration (AEAT) has updated its content of the Frequently Asked Questions document that explains, using a question and answer format, how […]
The tax administration of Portugal has issued a new regulation (Portaria 221/2017) that will allow taxpayers to pay the VAT due on imports using Portugal's periodic VAT return. The new measure is expected to enter into effect in two stages: September 1, 2017 for most goods contained in Annex C of the VAT Code (except […]
Two major announcements on a modernized system of VAT have been made in the past month, as part of an ongoing discussion among European Union leaders. First, the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union stated its intention to launch negotiations on a definitive cross-border system of VAT, based on the principle of taxation in […]
The European Commission has published its 2017 report on Taxation Trends in the European Union, which is now available online. The Commission notes that consumption taxes grew slightly as a share of total tax revenue in 2015, and that VAT typically composes between two-thirds and three-quarters of the implicit tax rate on consumption. This figure will […]
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued recent opinions in two cases involving VAT: In Case C-633/15 (London Borough of Eating), the CJEU held that the UK could not apply a condition to an exemption for services related to sporting facilities only on non-profit organizations governed by public law, without also applying the […]
The Australian Parliament recently amended the GST Act of 1999, to add an additional category of drugs and medicine preparations, which are now included in the list of GST-free goods seen in section 38-50(6)(b) of the Australian GST Act. The new section, 38-50(6)(ba), states that a supply of a drug or medicinal preparation is GST-free, if […]