A comprehensive guide to the VAT / GST rules across 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region: Australia, Japan , Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

PricewaterhouseCoopers new publication, Shifting the balance – the evolution of indirect taxes, offers an insight into the growth of indirect taxes around the world, drawing on data gathered from across the PricewaterhouseCoopers global indirect tax network.

The Sixth VAT Directive (77/388/EC) has represented for over twenty years the pillar of the common European framework for VAT. However, numerous amendments made it complicated to read and hard to access for practitioners.

Today the EU Commission has published the PwC Study to Increase the Understanding of the Economic Effects of the VAT exemption for Financial and Insurance Services.

In this survey, we have gathered 108 responses from medium to very large organisations in ten European countries, from industries associated with high invoice-volumes. We have found that about half of European companies with high invoice-volumes are in the process of implementing or have plans to implement e-invoicing and e-archiving in the next 12 months, while no fewer than one-third are already operating e-invoicing.

Around 140 countries now have a VAT or GST system and it is almost certain that this number will increase over the next few years, so what type of VAT/GST system are we working towards and how do we ensure we achieve a 'win-win VAT/GST taxation model' as the tax matures?

This booklet is intended to serve as a guide to VAT for foreign businesses, which carry out taxable transactions in Austria or intend to enter into business relations with Austrian businesses and therefore will have to comply with Austrian VAT law.

This publication contains a description of the Norwegian VAT system. The author has prior to PwC amongst others worked for the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam, the EU Commission in Brussels, the OECD in Paris and as a VAT advisor in the private sector in various countries.

Value Added Tax (VAT) is a broadly-based transaction tax on goods and services, and all European Union (EU) countries are required to operate a VAT system as part of their membership obligations. Many non-EU countries also operate a VAT system. Substantial sums are spent in foreign countries by many international concerns, for example at trade fairs or by a visiting sales force.

Due to the economic situation in 2003, quite a few companies are looking for ways to drive down costs and achieve extra efficiencies. In many cases, one way to realise this two-fold goal is to reduce the piles of paper by issuing (and accepting) electronic invoices and archiving them in electronic format as studies have shown that companies can save up to 75% of their invoicing cost by switching to electronic invoicing.

The book is a guide for businesses that want to take advantage of an internal market with 450 million inhabitants. It is practical guide, intended to offer a reference framework for businesses trading within the accession countries and also for businesses that do not want to miss out on the new opportunities.