Côte d’Ivoire
The Directorate General for Taxation for Ivory Coast has launched a new simplified registration process and VAT reporting portal for non-resident businesses selling electronic services to consumers and businesses in the country.
Since January 2022, non-resident businesses providing digital services in the Ivory Coast have had a requirement to charge VAT on their sales. This was introduced to remove the unfair advantage that not charging VAT gave to non-resident companies over resident providers.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has imposed a Goods and Service Tax (GST) at 15% on the sale of electronic services by non-resident suppliers to consumers in the country.
The new tax will require foreign providers of electronic services to register for GST if they exceed an annual registration threshold of SLE 350,000 (approx. £15,000). It’s hoped that introducing this new requirement will remove the unfair advantage that not charging VAT gives to non-resident companies over resident providers.
This tax will apply to a range of digital services, including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, software, and internet services.
Singapore
The Singaporean Inland Revenue Authority has issued new guidance on the implementation of its GST rise to 9% from 1 January 2024.
The guidance mainly focuses on supplies undertaken between 31 December 2023 and 1 January 2024 and confirms that if the invoice is issued or payment is received before 1 January 2024, then the 8% GST rate should be applied.
This increase follows the GST rate rise implemented on 1 January 2023, which saw an increase from 7% to 8%.
UAE
To prevent VAT fraud, the United Arab Emirates has introduced a domestic reverse charge on supplies of mobile and smartphones, computer devices, computer tablets, and components for any of these devices.
This new mechanism was introduced on 30 October 2023 and means that businesses providing these types of goods will no longer be able to charge VAT on their supplies to other business customers. Instead, it will be the customers’ responsibility to account for the VAT in their own returns. This effectively eliminates any VAT payments between the parties.
The above information was kindly provided by Fiscal Solutions (UK), www.fiscalsolutions.co.uk; contact: [email protected].
