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New Zealand’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) is highlighted as a model consumption tax, featuring a single 15% rate, minimal exemptions, and a broad base that yields a stable revenue stream. The system’s simplicity reduces compliance burdens and has been praised for its efficiency and neutrality. Key innovations include zero‑rating business‑to‑business financial services and excluding most crypto assets from GST.
The article explains how Brazil’s new nationwide consumption tax, the IBS, replaces state and municipal taxes, marking a significant shift in governance and operational logic. It highlights the implications for municipalities and the broader tax system, underscoring the paradigm shift in Brazil’s indirect tax regime.
Global e-Invoicing Requirements Tracker
Vito Tanzi, former IMF Fiscal Affairs Director, has urged India to replace its multi‑rate GST slabs with a single uniform rate for all domestic consumption and to redistribute the entire revenue equally to every citizen via per‑capita digital transfers linked to Aadhaar accounts. The proposal was presented at an international conference on the socio‑economic impacts of GST organised by the Centre for Development Studies.
The blog explains that ISO 27001 certification is becoming a mandatory requirement for e‑invoicing platforms in several jurisdictions, notably France, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. It outlines the key dates, such as France’s September 2026 deadline and the October 2025 completion of the ISO 27001:2022 transition, and details the certification’s three‑year validity and surveillance audit schedule.
Kenyan KPMG commentary analyzes the Tax Appeals Tribunal decision that clarified the VAT treatment of insurance intermediaries. The Tribunal ruled that while insurance brokerage services remain exempt, asset management services are taxable at the standard 16% rate. The decision also highlights the High Court's 2021 ruling restoring the exemption and the appellant's unsuccessful deregistration attempt.
The article explains how place of supply rules determine VAT treatment for cross‑border services, outlining B2B and B2C rules, land‑related exceptions, and the importance of identifying place of supply to avoid compliance issues. It also highlights that UK VAT applies if the place of supply is the UK, and that non‑established businesses face a nil registration threshold.
This whitepaper explains how aligning VAT returns with e‑invoicing data can improve accuracy, efficiency and control. It discusses the growing regulatory push for real‑time e‑invoicing, the challenges of reconciling fragmented data, and offers a framework for centralised reconciliation to deliver ROI.
The article outlines a CFO-focused readiness scorecard for e-invoicing, highlighting gaps in regulatory awareness, technical infrastructure, process maturity, vendor coverage, and organisational alignment. It details key mandates in Belgium, France, and Germany, and stresses the importance of early assessment to avoid penalties and lengthy implementation cycles.
Usage‑based billing for AI and SaaS services introduces VAT compliance challenges that stem from system design rather than legal ambiguity. Key issues include the timing of VAT on prepayments, the treatment of free usage, and the risk of late VAT declaration when true‑ups are billed at year‑end. The EU Court of Justice’s ruling on unused airline tickets illustrates how tax authorities view the right to service as a taxable supply.
Chile’s new administration announced a proposal to temporarily suspend VAT on residential property sales for one year, aiming to revive a stagnant housing market. The measure could lower final housing prices by 3‑8%, but input VAT on construction costs would become non‑creditable and must be capitalised. Its success hinges on congressional approval and swift implementation.
This article argues that e‑invoicing does not create new problems but instead exposes existing process failures. It highlights how structured invoices enforce strict validation rules in countries such as Italy, India, and Germany, and cites adoption statistics following Italy’s 2019 mandate. The piece also discusses the impact of e‑invoicing on exception rates, processing costs, and cycle times.
The article examines the European Court of Justice ruling on loyalty programme vouchers, noting that while some advisers praised the court’s definition of a voucher for VAT purposes, a UK partner highlighted unanswered questions. It offers expert commentary on the implications for VAT compliance in the EU and the UK.
Governments worldwide are banning PDF invoices in favor of structured e-invoicing formats, with Belgium mandating Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 from 1 January 2026 and the EU’s ViDA regulation requiring structured invoices for all intra‑EU B2B transactions by July 2030. France, Germany, Poland, and India also have specific structured‑invoice mandates, creating a global shift toward machine‑readable data. The article explains the legal, operational, and cost implications of this transition for finance teams.
Fintua’s blog post outlines how digital platforms and marketplaces must shift to real‑time VAT compliance, driven by EU directives DAC7 and ViDA. It highlights the need for continuous transaction controls, platform liability to collect and remit VAT, and the challenges of reconciling data across jurisdictions such as Mexico and South Korea. The article stresses embedding compliance into systems and cross‑functional collaboration to meet evolving regulatory demands.
The article explains how the place of supply rules for travel services differ from standard B2B and B2C rules, highlighting key exceptions such as accommodation, transport, restaurants and event admission. It details how the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS) shifts the place of supply to the supplier’s location, offering potential VAT savings for UK and non‑UK businesses. Practical examples illustrate how different scenarios can change whether UK VAT is due.
The Fintua blog post discusses OECD's latest updates on indirect tax, highlighting the shift toward real‑time, data‑driven administration, e‑invoicing, and digital reporting across jurisdictions. It covers the rollout of e‑invoicing and B2C digital services in EU countries, the UAE's expansion to non‑resident entities, and the development of the DCTR toolkit. The article emphasizes collaboration between businesses and tax authorities and the role of AI in tax compliance.
The article discusses how e‑invoicing transforms VAT recovery on travel and entertainment expenses, highlighting the shift from manual, employee‑driven processes to automated, XML‑based workflows. It outlines the challenges of identifying T&E invoices, preventing duplicate payments, and the varying complexities across EU jurisdictions, and offers practical guidance for businesses to implement classification logic and align e‑invoicing with ERP transformations.
The UAE Ministry of Finance released e‑invoicing guidelines in February 2026, clarifying that intra‑VAT group transactions fall within the e‑invoicing scope and introducing a 24‑month grace period starting 1 January 2027. The phased rollout begins on 1 January 2027 for Phase 1 and 1 July 2027 for Phase 2, with the grace period calendar‑based, giving Phase 1 entities full relief but only 18 months to Phase 2 entities. Corporate tax groups receive no such relief.
Malta opposition leader Alex Borg defended his proposal to cut VAT on restaurants and kiosks from 18% to 7%, arguing it would benefit around 3,000 catering businesses. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana opposed the measure, citing a €140 million cost that would match the 2024 tax cut and only benefit a small sector. Borg accused Caruana of branding restaurateurs as thieves.
The article explains how UAE’s new e‑invoicing regime requires more than just XML formatting; it demands accurate interpretation of key data fields. Field 5, an 8‑character binary sequence, flags transaction scenarios such as free‑zone or export, while Field 11, the seller’s electronic address, identifies the network endpoint for responses. Correctly mapping these fields is essential for compliance and accurate VAT processing.