Compliance Services

China has set to roll out e-special VAT fapiao to all taxpayers by the end of 2021, with the expectation to achieve nationwide e-fapiao coverage by 2025.

The STA (State Tax Administration) has launched a public e-invoicing platform aiming to provide free e-invoicing support 24/7 (inv-veri.chinatax.gov.cn). Suppliers/Buyers can access this website to:

• perform validation checks on both paper and electronic invoices issued within the last 5 years. Each invoice can only be checked 5 times per day.
• download relevant certificates and software, e.g. OFD reader, e-invoice generator for UKEY users.
• learn more about e-invoicing in china via online resources, e.g. how to identify the validity of paper fapiao.

It’s noticeable that this platform has access restrictions to foreign browsers and may not work on Apple IOS systems.

In Saudi Arabia, the Phase two enforcement date in the e-invoicing mandate has been delayed to 1st January 2023 and it will be implemented in waves by targeted taxpayer groups. Select taxpayer groups will be informed 6 months prior to the go-live date.

Due to the technical nature of the requirements in Phase two, taxpayers are encouraged to consult a solution provider or their internal technical teams to ensure their e-invoicing systems comply with ZACTA (General Authority for Zakat and Tax) requirements.

The Australian government has announced to mandate e-invoicing for all levels of government by 1^st July 2022 as part of the Digital Business Plan. Australia operates its e-invoicing system based on the PEPPOL framework. To send or receive an e-invoice, a business must connect to the PEPPOL Network through an Access Point. Australia’s Tax Office manages a registry of Access Point servers that have been officially accredited by the tax office.

The Hungarian government has postponed its e-VAT return concept to October 2021. This was initially due to be implemented in July 2021. The e-VAT return concept involved the tax authority preparing a draft VAT return for taxpayers based on real-time reporting data collected.

From 1 July 2021, Canada’s GST / HST rules have changed around how tax is applied to online sales from non-resident digital businesses. These changes were implemented as GST / HST was often not being collected on online purchases from non-resident vendors.

Therefore, from 1^st July 2021, any foreign suppliers of digital services to consumers based in Canada will be required to register for GST / HST and to collect and remit any tax to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Serbia is moving towards an e-invoicing mandate. This will be a phased approach, with the following envisaged dates:

• 1 January 2022: Public sector entity to receive and keep an electronic invoice and issue invoices to other public sector entity (G2G) & Private sector entity to issue an electronic invoice to a public sector entity (B2G);
• 1 July 2022: Public sector entity to issue an electronic invoice to a private sector entity (B2G) & Private sector entity to receive and keep an electronic invoice issued by a public and private sector entity;
• 1 January 2023: To issue and keep electronic invoices in transactions between private sector entities (B2B).

The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (“NAFA”) has started the implementation of SAF-T in Romania.

The preliminary SAF-T structure was published in April 2021, while the related guidance and legislation is expected to be published this summer. The SAF-T related software at NAFA’s level is expected to be finalised by the end of July 2021, allowing voluntary testing together with large taxpayers to be performed during August – December 2021. January 2022 will be the first reporting month for large Romanian taxpayers, and SAF-T reporting periods will follow the VAT reporting period (e.g. monthly or quarterly).

The technical specifications have been released and can be found on the ANAF portal.

From 1st July 2021, Russia will introduce mandatory e-invoicing for taxpayers dealing with traceable goods. Certain goods such as refrigeration and freezing equipment, will be deemed to be traceable goods. From 1st July 2021, invoices for these goods must be electronic.

Under the traceability system, each consignment of goods would be assigned a registration number during import. Businesses within the scope of the traceability system would need to include the registration number in their invoices.

The standard VAT rate in Portugal (the Azores) has been reduced from 18% to 16%.

Tax Circular 30237 outlines the procedures to be followed further to this tax rate change. These include:

• Chargeability;
• Adjustments;
• The cash VAT regime;
• Intra-community acquisition of goods.

There have been no changes to the mainland Portuguese tax rates.

In Botswana, the objective of a new project is to ensure the mandatory use of ‘the electronic VAT invoicing’ solution by all entities registered for VAT. This represents a novel approach thus far in the Botswana tax environment.