Insights

As of next year, beginning 1 January 2018 a non-established of services not solely subject to the place of recipient principle in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has to register for VAT, unless the non-established business can prove that its worldwide annual revenue from supplies is less than CHF 100,000. This revenue threshold was previously limited to the territory of Switzerland and Liechtenstein and is newly extended to worldwide scope.

Finance Minister, Mr Heng Swee Keat delivered the 2017 Singapore Budget yesterday afternoon. We’ve attached a Budget Summary to help you understand the initiatives that have been announced and how we believe it will impact businesses and individuals.

Emerging markets are at the forefront of the global shift from direct to indirect taxation. Reduced corporate tax rates in many countries and new or enhanced value-added-tax (VAT) or goods-and-services-tax (GST) are causing the shift.

Across a number of countries, the way internationally mobile employees are taxed is being shaken-up. This follows the G20/OECD-led Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan recommendations set out over a year ago.

A flurry of sign-ups in the first half of 2016 took the number of countries agreeing to introduce the minimum BEPS standards1, including country-by-country (CbC) reporting, beyond 80.

Our latest global survey found that businesses biggest concerns stemming from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan are additional administrative burdens and cyber security. With the demand of information that will be required and the sharing expected across local and foreign governments, is this a big surprise? Probably not, but our survey surprising found that nearly one year after release 78% of businesses have not changed their planning approach to taxes.

With more than 80 countries now having agreed to adopt at least the minimum elements of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan, there’s no getting around BEPS.

Grant Thornton has prepared a high-level analysis, from a VAT, GST and Customs Duties perspective, of the potential impact of Brexit on supply chains involving the UK and other EU countries. The analysis assumes that the UK will not form part of the Customs or VAT territories of the EU and the analysis could differ depending on precise incoterms and transport arrangements.

The profitability of a business is directly impacted by how its supply chain is structured. As a business moves through its own life cycle the supply chain will also evolve, for example, as procurement, manufacturing and distribution strategies change.

Introducing innovations such as artificial intelligence into your supply chain takes time and effort but it can help you leapfrog the competition. The scope and ingenuity of artificial intelligence (AI) was demonstrated earlier this year when a computer won against a human opponent at Go – a traditional Chinese board game in which the aim is to surround more territory than your opponent. This was a breakthrough – revealing how machines have developed new levels of human-like intuitive capability and processing, much faster than anticipated.

When thinking about future growth locations, today’s scaling digital technology companies are more likely to think about attracting the best talent and gaining funding than considering tax.

Indirect taxation is becoming ever more complicated, varied between jurisdictions and prone to government tinkering. With some of the biggest tax reforms occurring within indirect tax, getting on top of the complexity and change is vital.

The current VAT system throughout the European Union was designed a quarter of a century ago and was a transitional system which was to be replaced eventually by a 'definitive' system. Much has changed in the world of commerce since then including an enlarged EU comprising 28 countries and the major impact of 'on-line' trading over the internet.

Risk and reputation is a hot topic – with the public, the press and in politics. Accordingly, it is important that businesses understand that risk management needs to be everyone’s responsibility. One significant area of risk is tax. Our article discusses the main sources of tax risk and how these can be effectively managed to ensure your businesses’ reputation is not damaged.

Singapore Budget 2016 seminar

The amount of government revenue collected through indirect taxes such as value added tax (VAT) or goods and services tax (GST) is increasing. As indirect tax grows in importance, the complexity, frequency of changes and scrutiny are also increasing.