Switzerland
The Swiss parliament has approved a revision of its VAT law, which will take effect from January 2025. These revisions include:
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The introduction of deemed supplier rules for online marketplaces, which will require online marketplaces (such as Amazon) to charge, collect and remit VAT on sales of low-value imported goods by non-resident suppliers to consumers in the country.
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New requirements for all electronic marketplaces to provide information to the tax authorities upon request regarding the sellers and buyers on their platforms.
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New administrative sanctions for mail-order businesses that do not comply with their VAT obligations.
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Travel services resold by travel agencies and participation fees for cultural events will become VAT-exempt.
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The “place of supply” for streaming culture, arts, sports, education, science, and entertainment events will be deemed to be where the recipient of the service is established or domiciled. This means VAT will become accountable for in the country of the customer and, as such, Swiss VAT may need to be applied on admission to online events to Swiss customers by non-resident suppliers,
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The VAT rate on menstrual products will be subject to the reduced VAT rate of 2.6%.
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The Swiss Federal Tax Administration may waive the appointment of a fiscal representative for foreign taxpayers upon its discretion.
UAE
From July 2025, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Finance is proposing to implement a new mandatory real-time payment and e-invoicing regime for business-to-business transactions.
If implemented, the Ministry of Finance will develop an advanced electronic billing system, which will allow companies to issue their invoices. The data collected from issuing invoices in this way will then be used to populate and file tax returns automatically.
It’s hoped that the introduction of this regime will improve tax compliance and reduce VAT fraud in the country.
Uganda
On 1 July 2023, Uganda introduced a new 5% levy on gross digital services income received by non-resident providers from local consumers.
This new tax is in addition to Ugandan VAT, which is already charged at 18% on supplies of electronic services by non-resident businesses to consumers.
Jersey Crown Dependency (Channel Islands)
From 1 July 2023, Jersey has imposed a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the sales of e-commerce goods and services made to consumers in Jersey by non-resident businesses.
At present, non-resident businesses providing e-commerce supplies to Jersey did not have to charge GST on their sales. However, from July the Jersey State Assembly confirmed that GST at 5% will be applied to these types of transactions.
The assembly also confirmed that there will be a compulsory registration threshold of £300,000.
The above information was kindly provided by Fiscal Solutions (UK), www.fiscalsolutions.co.uk; contact: [email protected].
