Servicios de cumplimiento

On 7 November, the Parliament of Singapore approved the Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) bill passing two GST rises beginning 2023.   

The GST rate increases will be staggered over two stages:   

(i) from 7% to 8% with effect from 1 Jan 2023; and  

(ii) from 8% to 9% with effect from 1 Jan 2024.  

To prepare GST-registered businesses for the first rate change, the government has published the e-Tax Guide: 2023 GST Rate Change: A Guide for GST-registered Businesses, and a set of Frequently Asked Questions supplements the e-Tax Guide.   

In what has been a busy fiscal trajectory in 2022 for multiple Latin American countries, El Salvador has become the latest country to mandate e-invoicing.  

The Parliament in El Salvador, the Asamblea Legislativa, approved Decree 487/2002 (yet to be published) which effectively mandates e-invoicing in the country.   

As with other countries, the underlying motivation for mandating e-invoicing include reducing tax evasion and enhancing communication between taxpayers and the tax authorities. The Parliament also suggested that they were strongly influenced by the e-invoicing regimes of neighbouring countries, demonstrating the influential and prominent function of e-invoicing in Latin America as a whole.  

We can expect further details around El Salvador’s proposed e-invoicing model once the Decree is published in the Gazette. In the meantime, the Ministry of Finance will work on plans for the implementation of the e-invoicing mandate once the Decree has been published. 

The Isle of Man is advancing a distinctly ‘green’ agenda by reducing VAT for specific energy-saving materials to promote environmental benefits.  

Further to the introduction of the Value Added Tax Act (Amendment)(No.3) Order 2022, zero rate VAT will be applied to supplies of services and installation of energy-saving materials. 

These supplies were previously subject to the reduced rate of 5%. 

The implementation will take place retroactively, from 1^st April 2022 to 31 March 2027.  

The Order also expands the scope to energy-saving materials, to include water and wind turbines, and again serves to underline how fiscal policies can promote wider societal agendas.  

The Ministry of Finance in Vietnam has proposed to reduce the VAT on petrol and oil by 20% or 50%, lasting for six months.  

According to the Ministry, an increase in inflation is occurring in many countries, and the global oil price will continue to fluctuate. For this reason, it is imperative to reduce taxes on petrol and oil to curb inflation and stimulate the economy. 

The proposal has been passed onto the National Assembly Standing Committee for consideration. 

Japan’s economic growth could be adversely affected by the paper-based back-office operations of its business operators. As a consequence of the COVID-19 outbreak, the country has become more aware of the risks of heavily relying on in-person work when offices are closed.  

Considering this situation, EIPA (Japan E-invoicing Association) was established to promote the use and popularization of digital invoices in Japan as a means of resolving it. From 1st October 2023, Japan will introduce a new Qualified Invoice System, which requires invoice issuers to register with the tax office to obtain a consumption tax ID which must appear on “Qualified invoices”.  

The “Qualified invoice” will follow the PEPPOL PINT standards. Invoices that do not comply with the requested format and do not bear the consumption tax ID number of the JCT registered supplier will not be eligible for consumption tax reclaims on purchases. 

In order to issue qualified e-invoices in Japan, vendors must register with their local tax office before 31 March 2023.   EIPA encourages businesses to start using Peppol-compliant e-invoicing software by October 2022 to ensure they are fully prepared when this deadline (October 2023) arrives. 

Belgium’s standard VAT registration number comprises of a ‘0’ followed by 9 digits. The VAT number in a country uniquely identifies taxpayers.  

As the current sequence of VAT numbers in Belgium is almost exhausted, the VAT number format is now in need of modification. It is expected that the number format will be exhausted within a year. 

To this effect, the Banque-Carrefour des Enterprises is proposing to issue ‘1’ prefixed numbers to the existing Belgium VAT number format. Existing VAT numbers will remain unchanged.  

This will require some action from businesses in terms of their accounting and ERP billing processes to accommodate the change.  

If implemented, the change may also require some modifications to Tungsten’s internal systems. We are closely monitoring timeframes for the expected VAT number format change, while also assessing the impact of the potential VAT number format change. Tungsten Network will implement any required changes to accommodate the new number format when required.  

The Russia / Ukraine conflict has compelled many countries to review their fiscal policies, especially in relation to electric, gas and heating – especially as Russia serves as conduit for many of these essential supplies. 

Further to Royal Decree No. 2022015061, which entered into force on 1 August 2022, the Belgium tax authorities have cited the following changes: 

• Extension of the 6% reduced VAT rate on electricity supplies under residential contracts until 31 December 2022 
• Extension of the 6% reduced VAT rate for the provision of natural gas and energy heating systems from 1st August 2022 August 1 to 31 December 2022 
• A reduced VAT rate for certain heat pump operations, specifically on hybrid setups that use energy supply.  

Considering the continued conflict and rising inflation globally, we expect many other countries to enact similar fiscal policies over the coming autumn and winter. 

2020 and 2021 saw a proliferation in the tax rates countries deployed as a direct response to the unfolding covid pandemic. 

2022 has seen countries attempt to steady their tax rates, but as part of the transition to a post-covid era, countries are still factoring in the pandemic as part of their wider fiscal agendas. 

Belgium is one such country which envisages the effects of covid extending into the winter of 2022, as it announced that goods imported to combat covid-19 will be exempt from VAT until 31 December 2022.  

We have recently communicated about VAT groups in Poland. Poland permits the formation of VAT groups. These are advantageous for many reasons- one such reason being that transactions between members of the same VAT group are not subject to VAT. Moreover, VAT groups have the added benefit of less VAT-related administrative obligations for members within the group. The designated representative of the group is typically assigned responsibility for these commitments.  

Poland has established a draft law which considers VAT groups much more sharply in light of the upcoming Polish e-invoicing mandate. Much in the same way as a member of a VAT group is afforded responsibility to carry out other VAT-related obligations, a similar process will be conferred on a designated representative of a VAT group, which allows certain members rights to manage the B2B e-invoicing platform, the KSEF.  

Tungsten will follow the publication of the draft law. 

Decree – Law No.80 has proposed several mitigation measures specifically designed to assist natural gas and energy providers. 

The following measures have been anticipated:  

• Reduced VAT by 5% for natural gas supplies of household and industrial use to apply the consumption invoices filed in the third quarter of 2022 
• Conserving the miscellaneous charges for the natural gas sector enforced in the second quarter of 2022 
• Zeroing charges in the electricity sector for the third quarter of 2022 
• Providing some incentives for electricity and gas.