Compliance Services

The Malaysian parliament has passed the Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022, which introduces the taxation of low value goods sold online and imported to into Malaysia.  

Currently, taxes are not imposed on imports of low-value goods (RM500). It results in an unfair treatment of local traders since local produced goods are subject to sales taxes. 

As of 1 Jan 2023, 10% of SST (Sales and Service Tax) will apply to low valued goods (LVG) sold online and imported into Malaysia by vendors based in or outside of Malaysia. The Minister of Finance will determine low-value goods based on the class and price of goods, and the channel used to import the goods into Malaysia.  

As of 1 Jan 2023, Singapore will implement GST on imports of low-value goods and non-digital services. The purpose of taxing low-value goods is to level the playing field between overseas and domestic vendors, also ensuring a fair and resilient GST system. 

Overseas suppliers who sell low-value goods (S$400 or less) to customers in Singapore must register GST with Singapore’s Overseas Vendor Registration (OVR) if the business:  

• has an annual global turnover exceeding S$1 million; and 
• makes B2C supplies of low-value goods to Singapore exceeding S$100,000.  

For more information, please refer to the e-Tax Guide.  

Australia has mandated business-to-government (B2G) e-Invoicing since July 2022, requiring government agencies to adopt the use of PEPPOL e-Invoicing. Further on, the Australia Taxation Office (ATO) announced a Business e-Invoicing Right (BER) initiative to promote business-to-business (B2B) e-invoicing in a gradual phase, starting with large companies from July 2023. Under  this initiative, businesses are legally obliged to adopt and send e–invoices if requested by their customers. This means that Australia is not implementing a government-led e-Invoicing mandate (aka as Continuous Transaction Control), but rather seeks to stimulate the  uptake of e-Invoicing through ‘market dynamics’.  

The ATO remains committed to encouraging the adoption of e-invoicing, and recently published an article on the benefits of PEPPOL e-invoicing for SMEs. With more than 18,000 businesses already using eInvoicing, the government expects a significant growth in the use of e-invoicing over the next 12 months.  

The Dominican Republic had previously set out guidelines for mandatory e-invoicing in 2019- but these were not adopted at the time.

The Dominican Republic’s General Directorate of Internal Taxes (Direccion General de Impuestos Internos (DGII) has now again issued fresh guidelines with the aim of delivering e-mandatory e-invoicing in the country. This appears to have been triggered by the e-invoicing trajectory which has been accelerating in neighbouring Latin American countries.

The DGII favours a phased implementation of the e-invoicing mandate, in line with the following:

• 2023: large companies
• 2024: medium-sized companies
• 2025: small enterprises

E-invoicing has been voluntary in the Dominican Republic since 2019.

Guatemala is the latest country to welcome mandatory e-invoicing, following the lead of neighbouring countries in Latin America.

From 1st July 2022, all VAT-registered taxpayers in Guatemala must use an e-invoicing tool to issue their invoices electronically. All VAT taxpayers will be obligated to use the Factura Electronica en Linea (FEL) portal to register e-invoices.

The FEL portal facilitates invoice issuance, electronic signatures, invoice transmission to buyers and archiving.

Electronic invoices can be generated using an online tool provided by the tax administration or through an authorised service provider.

A list of authorised certifiers can be found via the following link:

https://portal.sat.gob.gt/portal/certificador-de-dte/.

In a fast-paced month for e-invoicing developments in South America, Brazilian tax authorities have announced plans for a new partial e-invoicing mandate which will require certain taxpayers to issue e-invoices via a government portal from 1^st January 2023.

From 1^st January 2023, individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEI) issuing invoices e-invoices for services not subject to the Interstate Sales Tax (ICMS) are obligated to issue e-invoices.

E-invoicing for supplies to individuals remains optional.

Tungsten Network will continue to monitor e-invoicing developments in Brazil as we await further details relating to the mandate.

Panama has delayed the obligation to submit invoices via the national e-invoicing system, the Sistema de Facturacion Electronica de Panama (SFEP).

Resolution No 201-5215, dated 19 July 2022 in Official Gazette No. 29585, dated 25 July 2022, delays the obligation for government suppliers to issue invoices electronically via the SFEP.

An earlier resolution had implied that government suppliers must issue invoices electronically via SFEP. However, this requirement has been delayed to 31 October 2022.

There has been recent e-invoicing traction across Latin America as companies push to advance the e-invoicing agenda in their respective countries.

Ecuador is the latest country to introduce e-invoicing to its shores.

The Internal Revenue Service (SRI) is introducing mandatory e-invoicing for certain taxpayers by 30 November 2022.

Further to Resolution NAC-DGERCGC22-00000024, any taxpayers subject to income tax that were not obliged to issue invoices electronically must now comply with e-invoicing regulations by 30 November 2022 at the latest.

Ecuador’s e-invoicing history dates to 2012, and the country has since advocated a phased implementation of e-invoicing obligations for taxpayers.

The Uruguay Tax Authorities (DGI) have released an updated version of the e-invoice XSD schema – version 1.4.2.1. This replaces version 1.4.2.0.

The new schema is available for download via the following link:

https://www.efactura.dgi.gub.uy/files/xsds_fe_1_42_1-zip?es

The testing phase of the XSD Schema supporting the country’s electronic invoice mandate will start from 1 October 2022. Changes will enter into production on 1 November 2022.

More information is available on the following website:

https://www.efactura.dgi.gub.uy/principal/ampliacion_de_contenido/documentos-de-interes?es

Following Emergency Decree No. 113-2021, the Peruvian government issued a new Emergency Decree No. 016-2022, which again postpones the deadline of four days again.

The deadline for transmission of e-invoices and fee vouchers has now been extended until December 31, 2022. Taxpayers should issue their e-invoice within 4 days from the day of issuance to the purchaser and transmit it to the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration (SUNAT).

As from 1 January 2023 taxpayers should issue and transmit their e-invoices in one day (counted from the next day of issuance, and 2 days if the same day of issuance is taken into consideration).