Global VAT & Indirect Tax News

The SME scheme allows small enterprises to sell goods and services without charging VAT to their customers and alleviates their VAT compliance obligations. The scheme is optional and applicable to small enterprises with a total annual turnover of no more than EUR 100,000 in all Member States.

From 1 January 2025, the UK's long-standing VAT exemption for private education was removed. Private schools must now charge 20% VAT on their fees, significantly impacting the independent education sector.

Slovenia launched mandatory electronic VAT reporting (e-poročanje) in July 2025, requiring all VAT-registered businesses to submit records through the e-Davki portal. B2B e-invoicing follows in 2027.

Belgium will require all invoices issued from 1 January 2026 to be structured for electronic invoicing. Businesses must migrate to Peppol or other compliant solutions as the Hermes platform is decommissioned.

The ATO is moving non-compliant small businesses from quarterly to monthly GST reporting from April 2025, while mandating Peppol e-invoice acceptance for businesses already exchanging e-invoices by July 2025.

ZATCA continues expanding Phase 2 e-invoicing integration throughout 2025, with Wave 24 covering businesses with turnover above SAR 375,000. Non-compliance penalties range from SAR 5,000 to SAR 50,000.

India rolled out Next Generation GST Reform (GST 2.0) in September 2025, introducing a simplified two-slab structure of 5% and 18% to replace the previous four-slab system, easing compliance for MSMEs.

Following consultation, the UK government confirmed mandatory e-invoicing for all VAT-registered businesses, with a phased rollout starting April 2028 for the largest businesses and full mandate by April 2029.

France confirmed its phased B2B e-invoicing rollout starting September 2026 for large enterprises, with full mandate for all businesses by September 2027. Factur-X is one of three mandatory formats.

Germany's mandatory e-invoicing regime for B2B transactions began on 1 January 2025. All businesses must now be capable of receiving EN 16931 compliant e-invoices, with full sending requirements phased in through 2028.

The Council of the European Union officially adopted the ViDA legislative package on 11 March 2025, removing legal barriers for member states to mandate e-invoicing and introducing harmonized rules for digital reporting across the EU.