A new reporting obligation entered into force in 1 January 2020 for online platform operators.
This obligation foresees the submission of a recapitulative document, to be submitted by 31 January of the following year, regarding the transactions subject to VAT performed by online platform users during the previous year…
France
A new reporting obligation entered into force in 1 January 2020 for online platform operators.
This obligation foresees the submission of a recapitulative document, to be submitted by 31 January of the following year, regarding the transactions subject to VAT performed by online platform users during the previous year.
Italy
The Italian Tax Authorities have recently provided clarifications regarding the right to deduct the VAT incurred with importation of goods.
According to the clarifications provided the debtor of this VAT is the owner of the goods and not the customs agent who acts as its indirect representative. In this context, the right to deduct such import VAT belongs to the person who receives the goods and that will use them in the frame of its business activity, provided that the respective customs declaration is properly recorded on its purchase VAT ledgers.
Norway
From 1 April 2020, the Norwegian government has introduced changes to the Value Added Tax (VAT) rules that apply to non-resident businesses selling and shipping goods directly to consumers in the country.
Under these new rules, the VAT liability for low-value imports up to a value of NOK 3,000 (approx. £270) shifts from the consumer to the non-resident supplier. This means that subject to meeting the NOK 50,000 (approx. £4.5k) registration threshold, non-resident suppliers would need to VAT register to report and remit VAT in the country.
Portugal
The Portuguese Tax Authorities issued, on 3 February 2020, Circular Letter no. 30218/2020 providing clarifications (i.) regarding the proofs of dispatch or transport of goods for the purpose of applying the VAT exemptions on Intra-Community transactions of goods and (ii.) regarding the information which must be kept either by the taxable persons transferring the goods under the consignment stock simplification regime or by the taxable persons to whom the goods are supplied.
Spain
The Spanish Tax Authorities published, at the beginning of February 2020, the transposition into the Spanish VAT act of the Directive 2018/1910, regarding the harmonization and simplification of VAT for cross-border trade.
Switzerland
The Swiss tax authorities published a practical manual on tax obligations of foreign businesses in Switzerland. This manual covers those aspects typically affecting foreign businesses, including a description of activities requiring a VAT registration, possible exemptions in Switzerland and administrative guidance on how to register and when to submit your VAT returns. It also explains the requirement of when and how to appoint a fiscal representative.
The manual provides multiple practical examples of activities that may be carried out by a foreign business in Switzerland and the corresponding VAT treatment and administrative requirements of these activities. It also includes a decision chart to determine if your business is liable to register for VAT.
The English version of the manual can be downloaded from this link.
UK
From 1 December 2020, the UK will cut the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate on digital publications (e-books) from 20% to 0%.
This follows the EU Council’s proposal to allow EU member states to cut rates on electronic publications to match their printed equivalents.
From 1 January 2021, the UK government has confirmed that it will introduce postponed import Value Added Tax (VAT) accounting to all imports of goods. By introducing this new mechanism, it will allow all UK VAT registered businesses to avoid having to pay VAT on the clearance of their goods into the UK. Instead, the import VAT amounts will be postponed to the VAT returns and will be entered in the same way as a reverse charge transaction. It is hoped that this will result in savings on shipping costs and bank charges for the companies who import goods regularly, as well as improve their cash flow as they will no longer have to wait for import VAT to be refunded by the UK tax authorities (HMRC).
The above information was kindly provided by:
- Fiscal Solutions (UK), www.fiscalsolutions.co.uk; contact: [email protected]
- Marosa (Spain), https://marosavat.com; contact: [email protected]
- Ryan VAT Systems (France), www.vatsystems.eu; contact: [email protected]
