From 1 July 2019, Costa Rica is introducing VAT at 13% on the provision of electronic services by non-resident companies.
Costa Rica
From 1 July 2019, Costa Rica is introducing VAT at 13% on the provision of electronic services by non-resident companies.
At present, foreign businesses providing digital services in Costa Rica do not have to charge VAT on their sales. However, in an effort to remove the unfair advantage that this gives to non-resident companies over Costa Rican resident providers, the Costa Rican government is proposing to implement VAT at 13% on these types of transactions.
This new tax will apply to a range of electronic services including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, e-journals and internet services.
Iceland
From July 2019, Iceland will drop the obligation for non-resident businesses trading in the country to appoint a fiscal representative. It means that from this date foreign businesses selling to Icelandic consumers will be able to register and declare local VAT via a general registration or through a new simplified registration scheme (which will only be used for sales of e-services, printed books or newspapers and tourism services).
A fiscal representative is a resident business that normally acts as the VAT agent, is responsible for the VAT records / filings / VAT payments and is jointly and severally liable for any unpaid VAT due in the country of sale.
Kuwait
Kuwait has recently announced that it will finally introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) at 5% from 1 April 2021.
Kuwait is part of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”) and all of these countries have agreed to implement a harmonised VAT regime of 5% by 2018. The GCC countries consist of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Kuwait’s VAT launch is set for 1 April 2021.
South Africa
From 1 April 2019, South Africa increased the VAT registration threshold for foreign providers of electronic services to consumers from ZAR 50,000 to ZAR 1 million.
This threshold is calculated on a rolling 12-month calendar basis.
The above information was kindly provided by Fiscal Solutions (UK), www.fiscalsolutions.co.uk; contact: [email protected].
USA – Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt case
Link to the Vertex’ article on this case: https://www.vertexinc.com/resources/blog/supreme-court-overrules-hall-expanding-state-sovereign-immunity
