10 snippets from the world of tax this February

From rate changes to new digital taxes, it’s already been a busy start to the month in VAT terms.

Take a look at our quickfire round-up of 10 snippets of news from around the world and share them with your tax team.

1) Lithuania

The Lithuanian government has announced plans to temporarily apply a 0% VAT rate to heating, meaning households will not have to pay tax to warm their homes this winter.

2) Bulgaria

Bulgaria will introduce a zero-rate on certain food, energy and medical supplies. The government is currently considering a draft bill to amend and supplement national VAT laws.

3) Belgium

VAT on electricity will be temporarily cut, the Prime Minister has announced. From 1^st March, customers will pay just 6% (down from 21%) VAT on the electricity.

4) Switzerland

Lawmakers have recently approved a new law that would see a tax on streaming services introduced. Dubbed the ‘Netflix tax’, it would be similar to the system implemented in Romania.

5) UK
Pressure is growing on the Treasury to freeze VAT for the hospitality industry, after more than 250 bosses from the sector – including JD Wetherspoon and Greene King – signed a letter calling for the standard rate to be held at 12.5%.

6) Kyrgyzstan

A new digital services tax on resident and non-resident providers of digital services has been announced. It will apply to B2B and B2C sales and is set at a rate of 2%.

7) China

E-invoicing is on the way to new parts of China as the tax bureaus of Shanghai, Guangdong Province and Inner Mongolia have all announced they intend to start a pilot programme for selected taxpayers.

8) Poland

From 1^st February, the VAT rate on natural gas has been reduced to 0%, while electricity will be taxed at the lower amount of 5%. Both rates are part of the Anti-Inflation Shield 2.0 package.

9) Cambodia

VAT on online sales of goods and services is set to be introduced on 1^st April; after initially being expected from 1^st January. It will mean non-resident companies providing digital goods or services to customers in Cambodia must register for VAT providing they exceed the turnover threshold of KHR 250 million.

10) Uzbekistan

A new decree has been published to reduce the country’s VAT rate to 12%.