More VAT in your pockets

When you are registered for the local sales tax in a given jurisdiction, your association will be able to claim the taxes paid out on business expenses incurred in that country. Each country has its own set of rules that dictate what expenses are eligible to claim the VAT back on, but to maximize the coming back to you, its important to request valide tax invoices from your suppliers. A proforma, deposit invoice, quote or information bill cant be sued to claim the VAT back. Your associations name must also appear on these invoices. In our experience, its always better to ask suppliers for these documents before making final payments. These suppliers are legally required to supply you with an valide tax invoice.

MOSS Threshold Proposition

The European Commission has proposed that a VAT registration threshold for cross border sales of electronic services be introduced in 2018.  This would allow businesses with very small turnovers to avoid having to declare electronic sales through the MOSS (Mini one stop shop) introduced by the EU in 2015.

The threshold is expected to be 10,000 EUR.  Furthermore, the propositions includes measures to reduce the complexity of the filing requirements for businesses with a turnover bellow 100,000 EUR.

Italy 2017: VAT rate

The planed VAT rate increase for 2017 has been pushed back as in 2016. These tax increases are tied into the performance of Italy's economy. If the economy peforms over a certain level, the increase in postponed. For now, the planed increase for 2018 is 24% and a further increase of 24.9% in 2019. The current rate remains at 22%.

Italy 2017: New VAT Communications and other changes

Two new VAT communications will be introduced in the Italian VAT system starting from the year 2017.

The first one is the “Communication of the data of the periodical VAT liquidations” (also called “quarterly VAT Return”) and the second one is the “communication of the data contained in the issued and received invoices” (also called “quarterly spesometro Return”)

Both communications will have to be filed by electronic means each quarter

The amount of the penalties foreseen in case of non-compliance have been also updated compared with the previous text of the Decree.

All the operators (VAT registered in Italy, resident or non-resident) are obliged to file such communications.

In addition, the new law introduces the following changes:

- the ceiling to obtain an Italian VAT refund without being obliged to file a bank warranty will be raised up to Euro 30.000 on a yearly basis (currently the ceiling is Euro 15.000);

- the Italian VAT numbers that have been inactive during the past 3 years will be terminated by authority by the Italian Revenue Agency.

Some previous communications with the Italian authorities will be abolished as a result of these changes. 

These changes highlight the importance of dealing with knowledgeable consultants in Italy to be able to navigate through all this red tape.

Canada incentive program for Foreign meetings

Canada has one of the most straight forward and advantageous conference incentive programs. If most of your participants are from outside Canada, or non residents as per Revenue Canada speak, your association won't be required to charge sales taxes on any registrations or exhibitors space rentals and most of the sales taxes paid out on convention related supplies will be refunded to you through the rebate program. A little known fact is that this program can apply, in certain cases, to a Canadian association as well, not only a non established association. Contact us for more information.

Leaving money on the table

To often, associations view the requirement to register for a local sales tax regime as an added burden. In reality, registering allows you to claim back most or all of the sales taxes paid out in the host country in connection with your event. This can positively affect your budget in a significant way.

Italy 2017: Possible VAT increase

The Italian government has announced plans to increase the standard VAT rate from 22% to 24% in January 2017. A further increase to 25% is also planed for January 2018. These increases aren't set in stone yet. As with previous planed increases, the Italian government will evaluate the performance of the Italian economy to judge if the VAT rate changes are required. Expect a final decision in early 2017.

OMAN to introduce VAT by 2018

Announced last Saturday, Oman will introduce a VAT as it seeks to diversify its revenues following a plunge in oil prices, directly affecting state budgets. The expected rate is 5%.

Its unclear at this point how this will affect non established entities holding events in Oman. More details will be available during 2017.