Insights

March 20, 2023

In December last year, VAT groups legislation in Germany was brought to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The ECJ was judging whether the VAT group rules comply with the European Union‘s law. Before we look at the ECJ‘s decisions, let‘s first have a refresher on what the VAT groups are.

March 13, 2023

European ViDA or VAT in the Digital Age reforms present many changes and opportunities for business. In the article below, we look at the most frequently discussed aspects of the policy. Hopefully, it will help your business prepare, adapt, and benefit from the new taxation direction.

March 6, 2023

Italian Ministry of Finance announced that the country increased the VAT thresholds that determine how often VAT has to be paid. In Italy, the tax is known as the IVA — Imposta sul valore aggiunto.

February 27, 2023

Electronic invoicing is on the rise across the globe — although at a varying pace in different regions. Today, we look at the Central and Eastern European countries, including the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Even though most countries are far from widespread e-invoicing adoption and continuous transaction monitoring, the changes currently implemented are notable.

February 20, 2023

EU-based companies claim that the VAT registration process in the UK has become more complex and lengthier, especially for electronically supplied service providers. Our case study shows that VAT registrations can take up to six months and result in confusion.

February 13, 2023

Since July 2021, the EU has a special VAT package in place to simplify e-commerce tax administration. The package includes one-stop-shop solutions like OSS — One Stop Shop and IOSS — Import One Stop Shop. A special solution is dedicated to companies based outside the EU — the Non-Union OSS.

February 6, 2023

Electronic invoicing requirements currently being enrolled in many European countries are part of a broader tax compliance reform. Typically, e-invoicing comes together with the development of real-time tax and transaction monitoring that allows tax authorities to constantly oversee businesses’ activities.

January 30, 2023

The intentions of the European Commission to bring Union-wide changes have been a subject of discussions for a long time. Finally, at the end of last year, the European Commission brought some clarity with an outline of the proposed EU VAT regime changes connected to the VAT in the Digital Age direction.

January 23, 2023

Amazon has just avoided one of the largest fines ever issued. European Union and the UK’s regulators have been investing Amazon’s data usage intended to benefit its own products for a while. Three investigations took place in the EU to identify Amazon’s market position abuse and its decisions regarding favoring certain sellers.

January 16, 2023

Widespread changes in the Europe-wide electronic invoicing regulation have been taking place in recent years. However, only one European country — Italy — has fully rolled out electronic invoicing nationally. The country transformed its invoicing requirements to make e-invoicing obligatory for most entities (B2B, B2C, B2G (business to government)) in 2019.

January 9, 2023

1StopVAT’s team has previously covered the expected changes in the UK penalties and surcharges regime. As we have stepped into 2023, it is time to announce that the time has come, and the new regulation is already in place. The new penalties and surcharges for VAT-registered businesses are active from January 1st.

January 2, 2023

The Singaporean VAT equivalent - the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate - was unchanged for fifteen years. However, since January this year, companies in Singapore have been facing a GST rate increase. The previous GST rate of 7% has been increased to 8%, and on 1 January 2024 will reach 9%.

December 27, 2022

From 1 January 2023, some temporary VAT regime changes will come into effect in Luxembourg. They include lowering most of the current VAT, or the TVA — Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée — rates.

December 19, 2022

Alibaba launched a new online marketplace of mid and high-range products in Spain. The marketplace, called Miravia, will be dedicated to high-income consumers who want to buy quality goods from the fashion, food, lifestyle, and beauty sectors.

December 12, 2022

From 1 January 2023, electronic invoicing will be made mandatory in Poland. With this new recently approved provision, Poland joins other European countries — Spain, Italy, Hungary, and France — that aim to fight VAT fraud, speed up the VAT refund processing, and reduce the costs of invoice sending.

December 5, 2022

ViDA — the EU VAT in the digital age strategy — will be updated on December 7. The upcoming issue is considered to be one of the most ambitious reforms to the regime in recent decades.

November 28, 2022

As 2023 approaches, many companies and tax authorities worldwide are preparing for changes in rules and regulations. The UK has some important taxation updates, too. From January 2023, a new penalty and surcharges system will be launched on late VAT returns and payments. The highlight of the update is the increase in the probability of receiving penalties from the HMRC — even when the VAT amount due is zero.

November 21, 2022

The abbreviation of EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility—a type of environmental policy requiring businesses to contribute when selling products that impact the environment in a way covered by the policy. EPR is typically accounted for on the impact of the product once it is used or when its life cycle ends.

November 14, 2022

The taxation of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, has been a trending topic in recent years. A non-fungible token, simply described, is a digital identifier recorded in the blockchain. NFT is used to give ownership of a product that cannot be copied.

November 7, 2022

January 1, 2023, will mark the beginning of a new UAE taxation period, with significant changes taking place in the VAT area. The majority of changes will be related to tax compliance and auditing, with some good news for the exporters in the UAE. Please find an overview of the changes below.

October 31, 2022

Importing is a pretty standard process for businesses and individuals. However, reporting important VAT can sometimes be confusing. Below, we explain the most frequent and crucial concepts for goods import.

October 24, 2022

On 4th of October, Uganda Revenue Authority, also called the URA, launched templates for VAT and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) schemes.

October 17, 2022

It’s less than a month left for businesses in the UK to migrate from their existing VAT online accounts in order to fill their VAT. From November 1, 2022, companies will have to begin using software compatible with the Making Tax Digital VAT platform.

October 10, 2022

The cryptocurrency payment tokens and their VAT status have been in a grey area for a while. Currently, the crypto community is discussing the obligations traders and marketplaces in the UK have regarding VAT.

October 3, 2022

On September 25, 2022, the Swiss held a referendum which covered two questions: the potential VAT rate increase and the pension age for women. The two questions are Switzerland’s benefits package, described in the country’s Federal Constitution. Therefore, the votes were carried out via a national referendum.

September 26, 2022

There are many Canada-based companies selling their goods and services to the US. It comes as no surprise because the US offers great expansion opportunities and a large market for virtually any product or service.

September 19, 2022

The main difference between EU VAT and OSS (One Stop Shop VAT) is that with the EU VAT system, businesses have to register for VAT in every member state in which they trade. If you sell goods or services to customers in more than one EU member state, you must register for VAT in each state in order to collect local VAT. OSS scheme allows the companies to register only for one country and collect local VAT based on the customer location for B2C sales on distance selling or digital goods

September 12, 2022

The call-off stock scheme has been around in Europe for some time already. Since this August, it has been available for Amazon sellers, too. The call-off stock scheme is one of the simplified rules for VAT accounting which allows sellers to avoid registering for VAT in countries where their clients reside. It usually is possible under strict circumstances, but companies using the Pan-European FBA scheme can now enrol in it more easily.

September 5, 2022

The UK’s tax authority, HMRC, has changed the procedure of VAT assessment by foreign online marketplaces. The new system came in place this September, speeding up simplifying the VAT returns corrections for the HMRC. The updated method is based on the premise that, in most cases, HMRC already has the information to prepare an accurate assessment.

August 29, 2022

This summer, Chile’s Congress received a tax reform proposal which included many provisions on income, foreign entity, and individual taxes, as well as VAT. The goal of the tax bill is to collect more taxes and reduces cases of tax evasion.

August 22, 2022

All over the world, marketplace sellers and facilitators of online marketplaces are increasingly facing tax rules specifying the duties of each party participating in the sale. Among countries that have different regulations for marketplace taxation, is Canada and its Marketplace Tax Collection (MTC).

August 15, 2022

In the past several years, many countries either implemented or began considering the Digital Services Tax (DST). This tax is the income tax for digital companies collected in the country where the business holds its operations. Approximately half of the EU have the DST tax in place or have been planning to enact it. The DST is already applied in Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the UK.

August 8, 2022

In most cases, VAT is directly related to the place where services are provided, or goods are sold. However, some of the economic activities fall in the grey zone. A vivid example is Poland's real estate services and warehousing, a case explained by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

August 1, 2022

The EU's SME scheme aims to support small and medium enterprises and reduce the administrative burden. It works by allowing VAT exemptions, set by every member of the European Union individually. The European finance ministers first initiated the SME scheme in 2020, when the need for simplified taxation processes was identified.

July 25, 2022

A 2020 action plan adopted by the European Commission (EC) was aimed at fighting tax abuse, creating a more flexible taxation system, and reducing administrative obligations for individuals and businesses. Among the measures in the action plan were an update of the VAT for the financial sector (banking, insurance, etc.) and the decision to lift the VAT exemptions for companies in the sector.

July 18, 2022

The European Commission continues its tax and reporting harmonisation efforts in the EU member states. Among the most recent public consultation sessions held by the EC was one dedicated to this year's VAT amendments that include changes in electronic invoicing standards.

July 11, 2022

In most US states (except for Texas, Alabama, New York, and Michigan), July marks the beginning of a new fiscal year. With the beginning of a new tax year, some changes typically take place. This year is no exception. Below, you will find a summary of the most recent changes in sales and use taxes across the US.

July 4, 2022

VAT compliance means time and other resources allocated to administering and filing the VAT for a business of any kind. However, ignoring VAT responsibilities is not an option. In the article below, we will look at the most frequent causes of VAT breaches and explain the risks related to them. We will also give some advice on how to stay VAT compliant efficiently.

June 27, 2022

VAT in the EU is becoming increasingly harmonized and, in some areas – even centralized. Cross-border supplies are one of the activities that benefit a lot from the simplification mechanisms established by the European Commission. Yet, our team at 1StopVAT regularly receives questions on Intra-Community regulation of VAT. This is why we decided to give a brief intro to the topic.

June 21, 2022