What changed
Thailand — VAT: the 7% rate has five weeks left, and no decree
Thailand’s Cabinet resolved on 27 July 2026 to approve in principle a draft Royal Decree extending the reduced VAT rate of 7% (inclusive of local tax) for a further year, to 30 September 2027. The Revenue Department’s own announcement states that the current reduction ends on 30 September 2026. No decree number has been assigned and nothing has been gazetted. (The Revenue Department)
A follow-up release on 2 August confirmed VAT continues to be collected at 7% on general supplies, that essential foodstuffs and road transport remain exempt, and that operators with annual receipts of THB 1,800,000 or less remain exempt.
What it means: Approval in principle is not a rate. Until a decree is published, the legally operative fact is that the reduction lapses on 30 September and the statutory 10% applies from 1 October. Thai royal decrees on this rate have historically landed close to expiry, so the base case is renewal — but a rate table that cannot switch to 10% is a rate table with a single point of failure in it.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Egypt — VAT: 5% on production machinery and medical devices
Law No. 149 of 2026, published in the Official Gazette (issue No. 30 bis (a)) on 28 July 2026 and applying from the following day, substitutes the first paragraph of Article 3 of the VAT Law. The general rate stays at 14%, but by way of exception the rate on machinery, equipment and medical devices used in producing a good or rendering a service is 5%, excluding buses and passenger cars. Devices used for medical purposes count as medical devices for that exception. (Egyptian Tax Authority)
What it means: This closes out an item this newsletter reported in June as a parliamentary approval. The scope is wider than “medical devices” alone — it is capital equipment used in production, which is a materially bigger input-cost change than the headline suggests.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Montenegro — VAT: a new statute, not an amendment
Montenegro’s Parliament adopted a new Law on Value Added Tax, published in the Official Gazette No. 104/2026 on 17 July 2026 and in force from 25 July 2026. The gazette record lists it as repealing the previous Law’s implementing Rulebook together with the nineteen laws that had amended that Law. (Službeni list Crne Gore)
What it means: Recodification, not reform, is the likely story — but every cross-reference into the old Law and its Rulebook is now pointing at a repealed instrument. Anything that cites Montenegrin VAT by article number needs re-basing.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Russia — VAT: the simplified-regime threshold holds at RUB 20m
Federal Law No. 228-FZ of 4 July 2026 amends Article 145 of Part Two of the Tax Code. Where the law previously read “20 million roubles for 2025, 15 million for 2026, 10 million for 2027”, it now reads “20 million roubles for 2025–2028, 15 million for 2029, 10 million for 2030”. A parallel change in paragraph 5 shifts the equivalent test to 2026–2029 / 2030 / 2031. It entered into force on publication. (pravo.gov.ru)
What it means: This newsletter reported the bill in July as passed by the Duma; it was in fact still awaiting signature, and we corrected that at the time. It is now law. The practical effect is that the step-down small businesses were bracing for in 2026 and 2027 has been pushed out by three years.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Hungary — compliance: receipt data reporting from 1 September
NAV confirmed that from 1 September 2026, data on both manually issued and computer-generated receipts must be reported, within three calendar days of issuance and aggregated daily by tax rate. A four-month transition runs to 31 December 2026 with no penalty; fines apply from 1 January 2027. (NAV)
What it means: The penalty-free window is four months, not a reprieve on the obligation. Manual receipts are the harder half — they are exactly the population that has no system behind them today.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
European Union — compliance: the ViDA OSS/IOSS plumbing lands
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869 of 27 July 2026 amends Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/194 to set the detailed rules for the special schemes extended by the ViDA Directive (EU) 2025/516, including the new transfer-of-own-goods scheme. It revises the OSS and IOSS return content and the electronic message set used between Member States. Article 2 applies from 1 January 2027 to 30 June 2028; Articles 1 and 3 from 1 July 2028. (EUR-Lex)
What it means: This is the machinery behind single VAT registration. The two application dates are a migration, not a switch: return formats change once in 2027 and again in 2028.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
France — VAT: book-rate doctrine reopened after a court annulment
DGFiP published revised administrative doctrine on the VAT rate for transactions involving books (BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-10-40) on 29 July 2026, open to consultation until 30 September. It follows the Conseil d’État’s decision of 16 July 2026 (no. 498533) annulling the comments published on 21 August 2024 on the rate applicable to audiobook narrators. (BOFiP)
What it means: The revised comments are opposable now but may move again after the consultation closes. If you took a position on audiobook narration based on the 2024 comments, that basis has been annulled.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
United Kingdom — VAT: locum doctors become exempt
HMRC published Revenue and Customs Brief 6 (2026) on 17 July 2026, changing its position on supplies of GMC-registered locum doctors made through employment businesses following the First-tier Tribunal decision in Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust v HMRC. Such supplies are now treated as exempt under Item 5, Group 7, Schedule 9 to VATA 1994, and the Brief sets out a refund process for overdeclared output tax. (HMRC)
What it means: Exemption is not always good news — it removes the output tax but also the input tax recovery. The refund claim is the immediate action; the recovery position is the one to model.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Brazil — e-invoicing: the validation rules are deferred, the obligation is not
Receita Federal and the Comitê Gestor do IBS published Ato Técnico Conjunto RFB/CGIBS Nº 1, de 31 de julho de 2026, deferring the start of the validation rules for CBS and IBS fields on electronic fiscal documents — validations that were due to begin on 3 August 2026 under Ato Conjunto RFB/CGIBS Nº 4 of 30 July. Documents are authorised for issue even without those fields. (Receita Federal)
In a clarification on 6 August the two bodies were explicit: “não houve suspensão da obrigatoriedade de destaque e prestação das informações relativas à CBS e ao IBS … O cronograma permanece integralmente válido e sem alterações.” (Comitê Gestor do IBS)
What it means: Receita Federal’s first announcement said the bodies would approve “a suspensão da obrigatoriedade do preenchimento”, which reads as a reprieve on the requirement itself. It is not one. Only the automatic rejection moved. Populate the fields on the original timetable — the deferral buys you a document that clears, not a deadline that slipped.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Cyprus — VAT: an 18-month test for what counts as a new building
Regulatory Administrative Acts K.D.P. 102/2026 and 103/2026 amend the Fifth and Eighth Schedules to VAT Law 95(I)/2000, replacing the “first installation” criteria with a “first use” test — systematic use of a building for at least 18 months after delivery or completion. It determines whether the transfer of a new building is taxable or exempt, and whether renovation of a private residence gets the reduced rate. In force 1 September 2026. (Cyprus Government Printing Office)
What it means: Eighteen months of systematic use is a factual test, not a documentary one. It shifts the burden onto records that developers do not usually keep for that purpose.
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Malta — VAT: gambling exemption scope clarified
Legal Notice 86 of 2026 amends the Fifth Schedule to the VAT Act to clarify the scope of the exemption for gambling supplies, in particular sports betting and certain casino offerings, and how place-of-supply rules apply. Companion Legal Notice 84 amends the Gaming Tax Regulations. Both take effect 1 October 2026. (MTCA)
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
Mauritius — e-invoicing: the MUR 40m tier
The MRA’s Phase 3 schedule requires MSTD economic operators with annual turnover above MUR 40 million to issue fiscal invoices from 1 September 2026, following the MUR 80 million tier on 30 June 2026. Section 20A(2) of the VAT Act lets the Director General require compliance from a specified date regardless of turnover or registration status. (MRA)
Full record, with the verbatim source text →
In short
- Vietnam — Decree No. 254/2026/ND-CP, detailing Tax Administration Law 108/2025/QH15 on electronic invoices and documents, has applied since 1 July 2026. (chinhphu.vn) · Full record →
- Burundi — the 2026/2027 Budget Law (Loi n° 1/10 of 30 June 2026) set the compulsory VAT registration threshold at FBU 25,000,000, down from FBU 100,000,000, and the optional threshold at FBU 5,000,000, from 1 July 2026. (OBR) · Full record →
- Ethiopia — the Electronic Invoicing System Administration Directive No. 1142/2018 E.C. is in force, applying to taxpayers issuing invoices, sales-registration-system suppliers, in-house and SaaS software providers and e-commerce marketplace operators. The phase schedule is issued separately by the Authority. (Ministry of Revenue) · Full record →
- United Arab Emirates — Directive on Tax Transactions No. 2 of 2026 requires a person who leaves a VAT Tax Group but stays registered to make pre-exit supply and expense adjustments in its own returns, effective 1 August 2026. (Federal Tax Authority) · Full record →
- Qatar — excise tax on sweetened drinks moved to a tiered volumetric basis under Law No. (2) of 2026 on 6 July 2026, calculated by sugar or sweetener content. Transitional returns are due through Dhareeba within 90 days. (General Tax Authority) · Full record →
- United States (Illinois) — the back-to-school State sales tax holiday runs 7–16 August 2026, cutting the State portion from 6.25% to 1.25% on qualifying clothing and footwear under USD 125 and on school supplies. (Illinois DOR) · Full record →
- Russia — FNS Order No. KCh-1-3/299@ approved a new form and electronic format for the indirect-tax declaration on imports from EAEU member states. (pravo.gov.ru) · Full record →
- Cuba — Resolución 160/2026 exempts non-state economic actors from Sales Tax on wholesale sales of imported goods destined for state retail, published 4 August 2026. (Gaceta Oficial) · Full record →
- Cuba — Resolución 161/2026 sets a 5% Sales Tax rate for retail sales of listed products through “Mercado del Barrio” establishments, published the same day. (Gaceta Oficial) · Full record →
- Georgia — a joint ministerial order of 29 July 2026 replaced the lists of therapeutic and pharmaceutical raw materials and medical goods exempt from import VAT, in force 5 August. (Matsne) · Full record →
- Bolivia — RND 102600000028 extends the deadline for mapping invoicing-system products to RNC economic-activity codes to 30 October 2026. (SIN) · Full record →
- Malta — guidelines dated 13 July 2026 require article 11 exempt SMEs to print “EXP” before the VAT registration number on fiscal receipts, and to mark exempt-without-credit lines “E” or “Exempt”. (MTCA) · Full record →
- South Korea — the 2026 Tax Reform Proposal (3 August) would rename two mandatory tax invoice date fields. A proposal, not law. (Ministry of Finance and Economy) · Full record →
- South Korea — the same proposal would disapply reverse-charge agent payment where a foreign corporation’s domestic place of business issues the invoice. Also a proposal. (Ministry of Finance and Economy) · Full record →
- Hungary — the Ministry of Finance put a draft amendment to the VAT Act out for public consultation on 4 August (closing 12 August) to cut firewood VAT from 27% to 5%. Still a draft: not adopted, not gazetted, not before Parliament. (kormany.hu) · Full record →
- Poland — the VAT Act amendment on import declarations (Sejm print 2838) had its first reading on 30 July and went to committee. (Sejm) · Full record →
Themes this week
Deadlines outnumbered announcements. Nine of this issue’s confirmed changes have an effective date in the future, and four of those fall on 1 September. The scarce resource this month is not information but implementation time.
Announcements outran instruments, and the gap is where the errors live. Thailand’s decree is Cabinet-approved in principle with no number and is reported here as a proposal for that reason. Brazil went the other way: an announcement phrased as a suspension of the reporting obligation turned out, once the technical act and the follow-up clarification landed, to defer only the validation rules. Hungary’s firewood cut moved from a press line to a consultation draft inside a week. In all three the safe reading is the instrument, not the announcement about it.
Thresholds moved in opposite directions. Burundi cut its VAT registration threshold to a quarter of its previous level, pulling small traders into the net; Russia held its simplified-regime threshold at RUB 20m for three more years, keeping them out. Both were delivered through ordinary budget and tax legislation rather than reform packages.
Invoice content is quietly diverging from e-invoicing. Malta now requires “EXP” on fiscal receipts for a specific class of exempt SME; South Korea proposes to rename two mandatory invoice fields; Hungary extends data reporting to handwritten receipts. None of these is a clearance mandate, and none would be caught by watching CTC rollouts alone.
Sources
Every change above is cited to the official instrument or authority page it was read from. Full source list, with capture dates and the verbatim sentence each fact rests on, is in the machine-readable feed for this issue.