Regulatory Analysis

Effective from July 2021, the contribution to the Danish Storm Flood Damage Levy will be reduced from DKK 60 to DKK 40. The scheme has reached its target balance of DKK 500m therefore the temporary increase of DKK 20 which was introduced in 2014 has been removed. The scheme compensates policyholders, who have an insurance […]

On January 11, 2021, the temporary reduced VAT rate of 5% as applied to hotel accommodation, catering and passenger transport services in Cyprus was reverted back to a rate of 9%. Cyprus had temporarily reduced the VAT rate for such services in response to economic hardships brought on by the pandemic.

Portugal postponed the obligation to include a QR code in invoices until 2022. Previously expected to enter into force on 1 January 2021, the obligation is suspended, but still voluntary, during 2021. The decision was taken in the 2021 Budget Law published on 31 December. With this decision, Portugal delayed both the QR Code and […]

Effective January 1, 2021, Austria is ending its temporary VAT rate reduction on journals and magazines. The VAT rate on restaurant food, publications, and several other industries was reduced to 5% for the period from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Recently, Austria has approved legislation to extend that VAT rate reduction until January […]

Following requests from market participants and also due to COVID-19 pandemic, it was deemed necessary that the first quarter of 2021 is offered as additional time for training and adaptation of companies to myDATA. Data issued in the 1st quarter of 2021 should also be transmitted to the myDATA platform with a different deadline and […]

The Spanish tax administration (AEAT) has informed that due to some technical difficulties, the 2021 changes to the SII mandate will be delayed from January 1, 2021, to January 4, 2021. This means that all the changes related to consignment goods in the Ledger of Intra-Community transactions, as well as those related to the Ledgers […]

The initial Saudi E-invoicing Regulation (Regulation) was enacted on 4 December 2020, but the details of the framework are yet to be published. The new framework is set to go live a year from now, on 4 December 2021, and will apply to all resident taxable persons, as well as any third party who issues […]

The Polish Ministry of Finance yesterday announced a timeline for its plans to introduce a Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) scheme, with a roll-out to start at the end of 2021.  By the end of 2021, e-invoicing via a centralized platform will be made available, but still remains optional for companies; from 2023 it will be mandatory for […]

The Irish Government have released their proposed Brexit Omnibus Bill 2020 which sets out several tax measures to assist in dealing with the effects of Brexit. One of the proposed measures is introducing postponed accounting for import VAT. The proposed measure means that importers would be able to record the import VAT in the VAT […]

The EU Council have now adopted the rules in relation to the introduction of a special VAT identification number that is to be provided to businesses in Northern Ireland at the end of the transitional period on 31 December 2020. The new VAT number will be the same numerical digits as their exiting UK VAT […]

The Greek tax authority published new schema changes (version 1.02) and updated technical documentation for myDATA eBooks. The new schema includes, inter alia: a) new fields, e.g., to allow for reporting of taxes other than VAT, b) new business errors, c) as well as updates regarding, e.g., the API method for cancelling document types.   Find […]

The Irish government has recently set out its Finance Bill for 2020 which includes an amendment to the Irish VAT Act giving tax authorities the power to issue a notice to a non-Irish trader requiring them to appoint a fiscal representative. Many EU Member States already make it a mandatory requirement for non-EU businesses to […]

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 (“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 German Tax Authority (Bundestag) approved the “Law on the Modernisation of Insurance Tax Law and Amendment of Employment Law Regulations” at the end of last month. The law limits the IPT exemption currently available on personal insurance such as Health and Disability insurance. Going forward the tax exemption should only apply to insurance policies […]

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.