Portugal: VAT amnesty until end of December 2013
The tax office of Portugal has announces that- with reduced fines until 20 December 2013 outstanding VAT may be declared. Penalties will be reduced. There will be no late interest charge, or extra return charges for previously undeclared Portuguese
See MoreOECD publishes bribery and corruption awareness handbook for tax examiners
The published a Recommendation on cooperation between tax and other law enforcement bodies to deal with serious crimes in 2010. Under this recommendation countries were expected to ensure that effective legal frameworks were implemented to
See MoreNew Zealand – Supports BEPS Action Plan
The tax department of New Zealand released a report that endorses measures outlined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) action plan to deal with the taxation of large multinational corporations and the problems of
See MoreEuropean Commission – VAT Guidelines for Telecoms and e-Services
On 29 October 2013, the European Commission published guidelines to help companies to prepare for the new value-added tax rules regarding telecommunications and electronic services. The new rules are scheduled to become effective in 2015. Under the
See MoreEU: Stopping the Italian bank guarantee requirement for VAT credits
The European Commission is seeking to prevent Italy from demanding a bank guarantee from non-resident companies which are seeking to apply for a VAT credit via their Italian VAT returns. The European Commission infringement systems try to change the
See MoreEgypt – VAT implementation discussions
The Finance Ministry of Egypt has re-started discussions on the potential implementation of a full Value Added Tax (VAT) regime to replace the existing sales tax system. The current sales tax system of Egypt is complex and can lead to compound
See MoreCzech Senate approves Income Tax Law amendment
On 10 October 2013, the Czech Senate approved a special law measure that includes a long discussed Income Tax Law amendment. For this amendment to be enacted it must be approved by a new Chamber of Deputies on its first session. The main changes are
See MoreChina: VAT reforms for 2014 and 2015
Chinese VAT reforms went national in August 2013 in respect of transport and broadcast services. The first VAT reform pilot started in 2012 in Shanghai and was then rolled out to 11 other provinces. Some more services will become subject to VAT and
See MoreAustria – Legislates rapid reaction reverse charge on VAT fraud
Austria has the new mechanism to enable member states to change reporting and VAT obligations at short notice were brought into place. This instrument allows member states to gain consent from the European Commission within 30 days to apply the VAT
See MorePeru- Amendments to the VAT withdrawal system
The tax authority of Peru published Resolution No. 317-2013-SUNAT on 24 October 2013. The resolution amends the Resolutions No. 183-2004-SUNAT, 266-2004-SUNAT and 073-2006-SUNAT which regulates the withdrawal system of VAT. The new resolution has
See MoreOECD – Request for submissions on PE-status avoidance strategies (BEPS)
The organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a request on 22 October 2013 for submissions of a “short description of strategies” that might be considered to result in the artificial avoidance of permanent
See MoreNew Zealand Tax Department Backs OECD BEPS Plan
New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has released a report that strongly endorses the measures drawn up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for tackling base erosion and profit shifting. The OECD action plan
See MoreIndia: Vodafone case regarding transfer pricing
The Bombay high court directed the income-tax department to stop the proceedings of its dispute resolution panel (DRP) against the Indian subsidiaries of Vodafone Group Plc and Royal Dutch Shell plc in an alleged transfer pricing case till the court
See MoreEU: Standard VAT return proposed
The European Commission announced on 23 October a proposal for a standard value added tax (VAT) return. As indicated by the new rules, the VAT return would have a uniform set of prerequisites for businesses when documenting their VAT returns.
See MoreECJ: 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 More