As more and more goods and services are crossing national borders than ever before, and with indirect taxes being adopted by a growing number of tax authorities, international businesses are facing tax issues in many overseas countries - including the possibility of having to account for tax in the country where their customer is located.
Those businesses face a significant challenge because of the nature of indirect taxes, and the way in which the rules are applied locally as these can vary significantly from country to country - even between countries that are supposed to apply them in the same way. Those differences make understanding and complying with the requirements a complicated and time consuming task.
However, one thing that all indirect taxes do have in common is the fact that they are transaction based. That means that they need to be considered at an early stage, if unexpected liabilities and unnecessary costs are to be avoided.
This international indirect tax guide provides an overview of the different indirect tax rules and regulations in a number of countries and details of how you can get further advice from Grant Thornton specialists who can help with:
Identifying where transactions are taxed - indirect taxes have special rules that determine the time and place where a transaction is taxed. Sometimes that means the taxation occurs in the country where the
supplier belongs, and in other cases where the customers belongs.
Registration - a business may need to register for the local indirect tax in countries where it is deemed to be undertaking taxable transactions. Registration may still be necessary even if it does not have any conventional or obvious business presence in the country concerned.
Planning for transactions - the indirect tax implications of reorganisations, acquisitions, and the disposals of overseas businesses need to be considered at the planning stage to ensure that they are undertaken in the most tax efficient manner.
Compliance - using expert local knowledge to assist you with the preparation and submission of the indirect tax returns, and advise on when any tax liability has to be paid.
