Global VAT & Indirect Tax News

Moldovan Parliament has raised the VAT registration threshold from 1.2 million lei to 1.7 million lei, effective 1 March 2026. The change reduces the number of companies required to register for VAT and aims to ease administrative burdens for microenterprises.

HMRC’s guidance explains that intermediaries can register for the Import One‑Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme from 1 April 2026 and must submit a monthly IOSS VAT return on behalf of each client. The return must capture VAT on low‑value imports to EU and Northern Ireland consumers, use ECB exchange rates, and requires nil returns if no sales occur. Intermediaries must also keep 10‑year records and can correct returns within three years.

Belgium will require all VAT‑registered businesses to exchange B2B invoices electronically via the Peppol network using the BIS Billing 3.0 standard from 1 January 2026. A Q1 2026 grace period allows technical setup without penalties, while non‑resident firms and B2C transactions are exempt. Penalties for non‑compliance start at €1,500 and increase to €5,000 for subsequent offences.

German economists warn that a shift from the current 19% VAT to 21% is possible amid weak growth and tight budgets. A 21% rate would raise gross prices of VAT‑able goods by about 1.68% and create a short‑term inflation bump, especially impacting discretionary sectors such as retail, e‑commerce, and hospitality.

On 1 January 2026, Dutch law introduces a five‑year revision regime for investment services on real estate. The regime applies to services costing €30,000 or more (excluding VAT) and requires annual testing of 20% of deducted VAT against actual use. It also mandates repayment or additional deduction when the property's use changes between taxable and exempt.

The European Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling (Case C-475/24) on 16 February 2026, addressing the admissibility of criminal evidence in disputes over Romanian input VAT deductions linked to inactive or unregistered suppliers. The decision interprets EU Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT in conjunction with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Greek tax authority AADE has postponed the mandatory B2B e‑invoicing launch to 2 March 2026, with a two‑month soft launch ending 2 May 2026 for large resident businesses. All other resident taxpayers must adopt the system from 1 October 2026, and a new penalty regime and early‑adopter incentives have been announced.

Sweden has introduced a new bill to strengthen anti‑VAT fraud enforcement, effective 1 July 2026. The legislation expands the Swedish Tax Agency’s powers, including enhanced scrutiny at registration, refusal or deregistration of VAT registrations, invalidation of Swedish VAT numbers in the EU VIES system, and blocking excess input VAT repayments. These measures aim to disrupt missing‑trader, carousel, and repayment fraud across the EU.

Germany’s national e‑invoicing mandate requires all businesses to receive structured invoices from January 2025 and to transmit them by revenue thresholds, with full coverage by January 2028. The system accepts XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Peppol BIS formats, all EN 16931 compliant, and mandates 8‑year electronic archiving under GoBD. Non‑compliance can trigger VAT deduction denial, GoBD violations and administrative fines.

Brazil’s new Technical Notes mandate that invoices and payments be linked under the split payment framework, requiring integration between electronic tax documents (DF‑e) and payment data. The system will be tested from 6 April 2026 and go live on 4 May 2026, with XML and invoicing processes needing updates to include transaction data for automatic withholding of IBS and CBS.

A London appeals court dismissed a UK telecommunications provider’s bid to recover £51.1 million in VAT payments, agreeing with a lower court that the VAT is owed when the provider supplied services. The decision confirms the provider cannot recover the VAT paid on its telecom services.

The article argues that compliance with country mandates should be seen as a baseline, not the ultimate goal. It emphasizes that true invoicing success lies in data governance and ensuring invoices are accurate, fraud‑free, and defensible in accounting, rather than merely passing XML validation. The author highlights mandates in Poland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and calls for a holistic approach to tax determination and data integrity.

The UAE has introduced a comprehensive e‑invoicing mandate under Cabinet Decision No. 100/2025, requiring all VAT‑registered businesses to issue structured electronic invoices in the PINT AE format via a 5‑corner DCTCE model. The phased rollout begins with a pilot in July 2026 for large enterprises, with subsequent deadlines for large taxpayers, SMEs, and government entities through 2027. Penalties range from AED 5,000 per month for non‑implementation to AED 100 per invoice, up to AED 5,000 per month.

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance clarified the input VAT deduction rules for commercial vehicle leasing in a Federal Finance Court decision. The ruling states that input VAT can only be deducted when the rental activity is a clear, objectively verifiable commercial operation, not merely asset management, and that leasing to related companies alone does not qualify. The decision applies to intra‑community vehicle purchases and impacts companies claiming VAT on passenger cars used for group leasing.

The Italian Revenue Agency issued Resolution No. 7/2026 on 12 February 2026, clarifying that SPVs can deduct input VAT on transaction costs in merger leveraged buyouts only if the taxpayer qualifies as a taxable person and the goods/services are used for taxable economic activities. Holding companies that merely own shares without management participation cannot deduct input VAT. The resolution also addresses the deductibility for holding companies acting as SPVs.

The Lebanese government announced a 1% VAT increase from 11% to 12% pending parliamentary approval, with an immediate 25% hike in petrol prices and no change to diesel. The government also aims to improve tax collection and customs duties, issue collection orders for quarries, and review maritime properties.

Azerbaijan’s Parliament has approved a new VAT regime for non‑resident digital service providers, requiring local registration, charging, collecting and remitting VAT from 1 January 2026. The change replaces the previous withholding‑tax or optional‑registration system, introduces a USD 10 000 annual sales threshold and ends the B2B reverse charge that had been in place since 2023. The current VAT rate on digital services remains 18%.

Irish Revenue has clarified that for Phase One of its VAT Modernisation programme, a "large corporate" is defined by management by the Large Corporates Division rather than turnover. From 1 November 2028, all VAT‑registered businesses in Ireland must be able to receive structured e‑invoices, and those within scope must issue EN16931‑compliant e‑invoices and transmit data to Revenue. The programme introduces mandatory electronic invoicing and real‑time reporting for domestic B2B transactions.

Lebanon’s cabinet approved a one‑percentage‑point increase in VAT from 11% to 12% and raised the price of a 20‑litre petrol canister by 300,000 Lebanese pounds. The government also announced a pay rise for public sector workers and retirees, while abolishing a diesel levy and increasing customs fees on shipping containers.