ECJ: Advocate General opines on VAT exemption for transferable cards
A Court in the Netherlands had referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) the question of whether it was possible to exempt from VAT the issue and sale of transferable cards that can be used to pay for goods or services. The advocate general
See MoreSpain –Proposal to bring VAT provisions in line EU rules
Recently, Spain has suggested some changes to its VAT provisions so that they are more in line with those of the European Union. The changes are expected to be started during calendar year 2014 and included removing the special deadline for filing
See MoreSpain – Cash accounting to be introduced
Spain will introduce an optional VAT cash accounting scheme for businesses with turnover less than EUR 2 million effective from 1 January 2014. On 27 September 2013, the new Spanish cash accounting scheme was approved by Law 14/2013. The main
See MoreGermany: Additional administrative burden for VAT reporting for cross-border, intra-EU supplies
A new document has been introduced in Germany that increases the administrative burden with respect to intra-EU supplies (the cross-border transport of goods) within the European Union. Suppliers can apply a value added tax (VAT) rate of 0% for
See MoreEU: New incentive limits for all European Union (EU) member states
The European Commission (EC) wants a new incentive limits for all European Union (EU) member states from 1 July 2014. These limits exist to guarantee that no extreme unreasonable incentives are given by an EU member state to businesses. Incentives
See MoreLuxembourg: A judgment of the ECJ regarding Principal establishments
A judgment of the EU Court of Justice concluded that a company having its principal establishment in an EU Member State may not take into account for reasons of calculating the deductible amount of VAT, the turnover of its foreign branches on 24
See MoreThailand raised alcohol excise taxes
In Thailand the excise taxes on liquor, beer and wine will increase by 7 -15% effective on 4 September 2013. The price will be higher particularly for
See MoreGermany: New VAT invoice requirements
Germany has approved a new Act to implement changes to bring German VAT compliance rules into line with the EU VAT Directive and with a number of recent court cases. Under the new Act changes to German VAT invoices include: The obligation to
See MoreCroatia amends the General Tax Law
Amendments to the General Tax Law have been published in Official Gazette No. 73/2013 and they entered into force on 26 June 2013.EU law with effect from 1 July 2013, Some EU directives have been implemented into Croatian legislation like- Mutual
See MoreECJ: Referral in respect of vendor reclassified as taxable person
The Romanian Court of Appeal has referred a question to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in respect of a supply of immovable property by a vendor who was later reclassified as a taxable person. The questions relate to the taxable amount of the
See MoreAustralia wants to expand excise duty on tobacco
The Government of Australia wants to expand excise duty on tobacco to raise an additional A$5.3 billion ($4.7 billion) in income. An organized 12.5 percent rise in the excise duty will be acquainted from 1 December 2013 to help the budget to surplus
See MoreEuropean Commission: Private VAT rulings in relation to cross-border situations
According to European Commission information notice a number of EU member states have agreed within the EU VAT Forum to take part in a test case in connection with private VAT rulings. According to the agreement, taxable persons who are planning a
See MoreEU: Regulation on Customs enforcement of intellectual property rights
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (EU) on 18 July 2013 published a Regulation (EU No 608/2013) on customs enforcement of intellectual property rights. The situations where the regulation is particularly relevant are as
See MoreEU: Countering “carousel” VAT fraud
The Council of the European Commission affirmed on 22 July 2013 that the appropriation of measures to empower EU Member States to address VAT fraud, with directive provisions that take into account fast response and in addition a particular measure
See MoreCroatia: New excise duty imposed on energy products
Croatia has recently passed a number of new laws and regulations in connection with its entry to the European Union (EU). On 23 July 2013, the Ordinance regulating excise duty on energy products entered into force in Croatia. With its entry to the
See MoreBelgium: Approval of “Fairness tax” on corporations
The tax measures under the budget control proposals previously announced by the Belgian government were adopted on 18 July 2013 by Parliament.The new “fairness tax” is included in the measures. Imposition rate of the fairness tax will be 5.15%
See MoreEU: Applications for customs duty relief
For enterprises which want to claim relief from customs duty regarding imports of specific goods into the European Union (EU), the following due date for filing applications is 31 July 2013. This relief from import duty normally applies to imported
See MoreECJ: Decision in the Ocean Finance case
The case of Paul Newey (trading as Ocean Finance) concerned a UK loan broker arranging loans between lenders and borrowers within the UK. Mr. Newey set up a Jersey company called Alabaster (CI) Ltd and gave this company the right to use the trading
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