In brief — fuel-tax relief dominates, and Malawi taxes foreign digital services:
- Kenya cut VAT on fuel from 16% to 8% (15 April – 14 July 2026).
- Philippines suspended excise on LPG and kerosene for three months (from 17 April 2026).
- Bolivia restored the full 100% VAT credit on fuel purchases.
- Vietnam exempted fuel from VAT at the sale and import stages (16 April – 30 June 2026).
- Malawi brought non-resident digital services into VAT at 17.5% (in force 15 April 2026).
Four governments on three continents reached for the same lever this week: indirect tax on fuel. None of them touched a headline VAT rate or an e-invoicing mandate — instead they adjusted the tax that sits on every litre of fuel, where relief is felt fastest. Cutting the other way, Malawi widened its VAT base, pulling foreign digital-service suppliers into the net.
Middle East & Africa
Kenya — VAT: fuel VAT halved to 8% for three months
Kenya cut VAT on petroleum products from 16% to 8% in two quick steps — Legal Notice No. 69 (16%→13%, dated 14 April) and, a day later, Legal Notice No. 70 (13%→8%, dated 15 April). The 8% rate runs 15 April to 14 July 2026. (Kenya Law)
What it means: This is a temporary, targeted cut on fuel — not a change to Kenya’s standard 16% VAT, which still applies to everything else. If you price fuel-linked supplies into or out of Kenya, the 8% window closes on 14 July; plan for the rate to step back up unless it is extended.
Malawi — VAT: foreign digital services pulled into the VAT net
Malawi’s Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (assented 9 April, gazetted 14 April) requires non-resident suppliers of digital and electronic services — streaming, cloud, software, online advertising and digital marketplaces, plus the marketplace operators and intermediaries behind them — to register for and charge Malawi VAT at the 17.5% standard rate when they sell to consumers in Malawi. Registration is mandatory regardless of the MWK 50 million threshold, and non-resident providers cannot deduct input VAT. The measure is in force from 15 April 2026. (Parliament of Malawi — VAT (Amendment) Act, 2026)
What it means: Unlike the four fuel measures, this widens the base rather than easing it. Note the rate: Malawi’s standard VAT rose from 16.5% to 17.5% on 1 January 2026, and digital services ride that same standard rate — there is no special digital rate. If you supply streaming, SaaS, ads or marketplace services to Malawian consumers, threshold relief does not apply: you must register from day one and you cannot recover Malawian input VAT.
Asia–Pacific
Philippines — Excise: LPG and kerosene excise suspended for three months
President Marcos issued Executive Order No. 114 (signed 16 April) suspending excise taxes on LPG and kerosene for three months under RA 12316, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue implemented it through Revenue Regulations No. 3-2026, effective on publication 17 April. (Supreme Court E-Library)
What it means: Cooking-gas and household-fuel excise — not VAT — is the lever here. The carve-outs matter: LPG used as petrochemical feedstock and kerosene used as aviation fuel stay taxed. It is a three-month measure, so treat the relief as a window, not a new baseline.
Vietnam — VAT: fuel exempted from VAT at sale and import for the second quarter
The National Assembly adopted Resolution 19/2026/QH16 (12 April) exempting gasoline, diesel, kerosene, mazut and aviation fuel from VAT declaration and payment at the sale and import stages, while input VAT stays creditable. The exemption runs 16 April to 30 June 2026. (HCMC Tax Office — full text of Resolution 19/2026/QH16)
What it means: This suspends VAT collection on fuel itself, but — crucially — sellers keep their right to credit input VAT, so the relief flows through rather than stranding tax in the chain. Like Kenya’s and the Philippines’ measures, it is explicitly time-boxed: the exemption lapses on 30 June unless extended.
Americas
Bolivia — VAT: full fuel VAT credit restored
Bolivia’s tax authority (SIN) restored the full 100% VAT fiscal credit on gasoline and diesel, scrapping the earlier cap that let businesses reclaim only 70% of the input VAT. (SIN)
What it means: This one is a recovery change, not a rate change — the VAT on fuel is unchanged, but VAT-registered buyers can now deduct all of it instead of losing 30%. For Bolivian businesses that run fleets or generators, that is a direct cut in the real cost of fuel.
The thread
- Fuel is where governments reach first. A rate cut (Kenya), an excise suspension (Philippines), an input-credit restoration (Bolivia) and a VAT exemption (Vietnam) are four different mechanisms aimed at the same outcome — lower delivered fuel cost — because fuel tax changes are felt within days.
- Read the mechanism, not just the headline. “VAT cut”, “excise suspended”, “credit restored” and “VAT exempted” hit different lines on an invoice and a return. Kenya and Vietnam both touch the VAT a customer sees, but Vietnam suspends collection while leaving input VAT creditable; Bolivia’s change shows up purely in input-VAT recovery.
- Most of the relief is temporary. Three of the four fuel measures are explicitly time-boxed. Diary the end dates.
- The base keeps widening, too. While the fuel measures ease tax, Malawi’s move runs the other way — taxing non-resident digital supplies at the 17.5% standard rate with no threshold relief. It is a permanent base expansion, not a window, and part of the same global drift that has put dozens of jurisdictions’ VAT onto foreign streaming, SaaS and marketplace sales.
Sources
- Kenya: Kenya Law — Legal Notice No. 69 (VAT Amendment of Rate of Tax) Order, 2026.
- Malawi: Parliament of Malawi — Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (corroborated by KPMG TaxNewsFlash).
- Philippines: Supreme Court E-Library — Executive Order No. 114.
- Bolivia: SIN — 100% del crédito fiscal en facturas de combustible.
- Vietnam: HCMC Tax Office (.gov.vn) — full text of Resolution No. 19/2026/QH16 (EPT, VAT & excise on fuel).