Special Focus
Indirect Taxes

Special Focus Archive

Germany: VAT grouping comes under European Commission scrutiny

The European Commission is right to pursue a coherent and uniform application of the VAT grouping option, but how it is choosing to do it is not, believe Daniel Keller, Christian Schubert of PwC Germany and Sjoerd Janssen of and Pwc in the Netherlands
Luxembourg: Holding companies – the VAT challenge

Taxpayers must pay attention to, and must plan carefully for, the impact of VAT on acquisitions or disposals of shares, or more generally on transactions involving holding companies, explain Christophe Plainchamp and Nicolas Devillers of ATOZ – Taxand
Russia: VAT: a key factor in Russia's emissions-trading market

Legislation about the treatment of emission reduction units could raise more VAT issues than it solves, believe Alexander Smirnov, Alexei Matveev and Anna Ryzhkova of Ernst & Young in Russia
Sweden: Courts leave share sale costs unresolved for VAT

The SKF case has produced an uncertain situation concerning how the VAT associated with the costs of selling shares should be treated, say Steven Robertson and Susann Lundström of KPMG
Thailand: Managing FTAs is new trend indirect tax planning

Managing indirect tax costs and compliance represents a significant and frequently underestimated challenge for many companies engaged in the cross-border trade of goods, believe Hatasakdi na Pombejra and Tatpicha Pipatmongkolchai of HNP Taxand
UK: Embedding VAT reporting and compliance in a shared service centre environment

Multinational businesses are increasingly moving to shared service centres (SSCs) as they seek to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of their finance functions. VAT reporting and compliance can benefit from this trend, believe Gary Harley and Chris Downing of KPMG
US: Beware of your unknown tax liabilities

A value added tax may be coming to the US, but taxpayers should be aware that they already may be subject to taxes that they may not know about, explains Mark McCormick of Alvarez & Marsal Taxand.
Western Balkans: How VAT applies to investing in the Western Balkans

Slobodan Mihajlovic, of Eurofast Global in FYR Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia, says the tax authorities in the Western Balkans are modernising VAT regulations to attract more investment and to prepare themselves for the goal of EU membership