March update: 10 new tax rules from around the world

From Turkey to Thailand and Singapore to South Korea, there has been a raft of new rates and rules announced by countries around the world in March.

Take a look at the updates below – and remember to share them with your team.

1) Singapore

Singapore has announced plans to increase its GSTGoods and Services Tax rates next year in a bid to strengthen its finances following a period of heightened spending to overcome the pandemic. It intends to raise the current 7% rate to 8% in January 2023 before a further hike to 9% in January 2024.

2) Cyprus

VAT on petrol has been cut to 5% in Cyprus, while power will continue to be taxed at a reduced rate of 9% for longer.

3) Congo

Essential food items will have VAT applied at a lower rate of 8% in Congo as part of new measures announced in the 2022 Finance Law.

4) Poland

Polish tax authorities have moved quickly to implement a VAT rate of 0% on goods and services that will be used as donations for refugees from Ukraine. The rate will stand until 30^th June.

5) Spain

The reduced VAT rate on electricity of 10% has been extended until 30^th June 2022, after which it will revert to 21%.

6) Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz Republic has issued a confirmation notice stating that non-residents have been subject to VAT obligations since January 2022. This means non-resident businesses selling e-services to Kyrgyz consumers must pay the tax.

7) Turkey

VAT on supplies of electricity for both residential and agricultural irrigation has been reduced from 18% to 8%. The new rate is effective on supplies made from 1^st March.

8) Italy

The temporary super-reduced rate of VAT of 5% on supplies of natural gas for domestic and industrial purposes has been extended until 30^th June 2022.

9) Thailand

VAT will not be applied to transfers of cryptocurrencies or digital tokens in Thailand from 1^st April, providing the transactions are made through a government-backed exchange.

10) South Korea

South Korea has confirmed it is extending the scope of mandatory e-invoicingElectronic invoicing - widely referred to as e-invoicing - is the exchange of a digital document between a supplier and a buyer. E-invoices are issued, transmitted and received in a structured data format that enabled automatic and electronic processing. They contain data in a machine-readable format so that an AP system can read an invoice without manual data entry, leading to faster and more efficient invoicing. by applying it to all B2B transactions from 1^st July. The rule will apply to all businesses with sales in the previous year of more than KRW200 million (approximately £125,000).