The United Kingdom on Dec. 20 released summaries of its trade agreements with Morocco, Kosovo and Jordan to take effect after Great Britain leaves the European Union. The summaries contain information on provisions on intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, rules of origin, preferential tariffs and quotas, and more.

KPMG on Dec. 20 released an alert on value-added tax identification numbers in the European Union’s upcoming “quick fixes” VAT reform system, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2020. The identification numbers will be used to apply exemptions for supplies within the EU, KPMG said. Previously, VAT exemptions could not be refused “merely because of the fact that the supplier did not receive a valid VAT identification number from the customer.” With the upcoming change, the use of a valid identification number of the customer will be “a material condition of the VAT exemption for intra-Community supplies,” KPMG said. If the customer does not provide a valid number, the supplier “cannot apply the VAT exemption and will need to invoice local VAT of the EU Member State of dispatch of the goods.”

The European Commission released a Dec. 20 guidance on the upcoming changes to its value-added tax measures as part of its “2020 Quick Fixes,” an effort aimed at simplifying trade and tax measures among EU member states. The guidance provides information on VATs relating to “call-off stock arrangements, chain transactions and the exemption for intra-Community supplies of goods,” which are scheduled to take effect across most member states (see 1912120015) by Jan. 1. The 85-page “explanatory notes” provide “help in understanding” the new VAT provisions, the commission said, and are the result of discussions with member states and EU industry representatives. The guidance is “not legally binding,” “not comprehensive” and is still a “work in progress,” the commission stressed, stating that member states may issue their own VAT guidance. The guidance provides information on exporting goods to member states, destruction or loss of goofs, definitions of certain VAT-related terms and more.

In the Dec. 19-20 editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

Britain is seeing an increase in demand for its goods outside the European Union, with exports outside the EU growing five times faster than exports to EU member states, the Department for International Trade said Dec. 20. The sample size, taken over a one-year period ended in September, shows how “big the opportunities are” for British exporters around the world, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement. Truss also said the numbers signify the importance of Britain's trade relationship with the U.S. and Japan, adding that her “priority is to strike new trade deals with key partners” to expand exports as Britain leaves the EU. “This government will continue to back our business communities to ensure they have the tools to seize this opportunity and take full advantage of all its benefits,” Truss said.

The United Kingdom Parliament on Dec. 20 voted 358-234 to advance implementing legislation for the U.K.’s transition deal for its withdrawal from the European Union. The bill’s passage on its “second reading” means it will now head to committee, where amendments will be considered before the full Parliament votes on final passage of the bill after its “third reading.” A new provision added to the bill would legally prohibit the U.K. government from extending the transition period past Dec. 31, 2020, which has some worried about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit or a rushed final agreement with the EU (see 1912130063). Further parliamentary debate is currently set for Jan. 7-9, 2020, according to a BBC report. Once passed, the bill would also have to be rubber-stamped by the House of Lords.

The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation corrected an entry under its Venezuela sanctions regime, OFSI said in a Dec. 19 notice. The change amended identifying information for the listing for Tibisay Lucena Ramirez, who is still subject to an asset freeze, OFSI said.

Poland recently made several changes to its value-added tax filing rules, expanding the scope of data that requires reporting, according to a Dec. 17 post from KPMG. The changes, which take effect in July, will require companies to report data about “special sales documents, about special goods or services sold, if there were special sales procedures (including electronic or distance sales), about special purchase documents and about special purchase procedures,” KPMG said.

Bulgaria made several changes to its value-added tax law that will take effect Jan. 1, including implementing the European Union’s “quick fixes” reform, amendments to VATs for supply of goods and changes to VAT registration, according to a Dec. 16 KPMG alert. Along with the quick fixes (see 1912120015), which were approved by the EU earlier this year and are aimed at simplifying trade between member states, Bulgaria will extend the “notion” of “supply of goods” to cover “the transfer of any right to dispose with goods as owner.” In these cases, “no VAT taxable supply will be deemed to take place upon construction … of state or municipal-infrastructure,” KPMG said, and the supplier should “deduct input VAT on the incurred expenses related to the infrastructure under the general rules of the law.” In another change, foreign people or companies not established in Bulgaria “and performing domestic taxable supplies” will have to register for VAT purposes prior to “performing their first taxable supply, irrespective of the taxable turnover generated,” the alert said.

In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: