Le magazine du trésorier - n°76 - 4ème trimestre 2011 - (Page 4)

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS LuxNews TAX NEWS Companies required to report their monthly cross-border service flows as from January 2012. The Central Bank of Luxembourg (BCL) and the Luxembourg Statistical Office (STATEC) are the two institutions responsible for establishing the country’s balance of payments established on the basis of the data collected from Luxembourgbased companies, including companies from both the financial and non-financial sectors. As a result of developments in the regulatory framework of the banking sector, changes are to be introduced to the way this data is collected, mainly in respect of payments for services provided to and received from someone established in another country. Currently, credit institutions are required to report to the BCL all the payments to/from abroad realized by their clients, indicating each time the economic nature of the underlying transaction. As from 1 January 2012, this obligation will be transferred to the companies themselves on a monthly basis. The new reporting obligation concerns also selected companies within the non-financial sector, who, based on previous activity, are expected to realize large volumes of transactions – mainly services - with foreign counterparts More information: www.ey.com/Lu (Tax services - Indirect tax section) FAIA – the Standard Audit File for Tax to be made available as of 1 January 2012 The AED recognized and acknowledged the need for technological advance and streamlining of the process of VAT audit. Under the auspice of the OECD in 2005, the guidance note concerning the Standard Audit File for Tax (hereafter “SAF-T”) was released. The Law of 19 December 2008 on the electronic VAT audit process, followed by a first recommendation of the Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domaines (hereafter “AED”) at the end of 2009 and a further updated by a communication released in December 2010 lead to the introduction of the “Fichier d’audit informatisé AED” (hereafter “FAIA”).The year 2011 will be the first reporting period for FAIA, meaning that first standardized electronic files are to be prepared in order to export accounting data upon request of the AED by taxable persons as the 2011 VAT returns to be filed in 2012. In principle, any taxable person may be required by the AED to provide them with an electronic version of its accounts under a specific elec- tronic format for the performance of the VAT audit. However, based on the recommendation issued by the VAT Authorities in December 2010, the above-mentioned obligation has been deferred for certain taxable persons and in consequence, at the current stage, the FAIA will be applicable following the same time frame as for the Standard Charts of Accounts regime, allowing businesses to adapt their system for the FAIA purposes within the framework of the accounting changes required for the Standard Charts of Accounts. The type of format to be used is an XML one, as it provides an opportunity for the future adoption of the more advanced XBRLGL format while minimizing potential costs of shifting to this type of file. In terms of content, FAIA is based on the entries to be found in the general ledger, master file data for customers and suppliers as well as details of invoices, payments and orders. More detailed description is provided in the above-mentioned recommendation issued by the VAT Authorities. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to review their accounting and IT systems currently in place, and to perform the necessary adjustments in order to be compliant with the new standards in due time. On the one hand, the introduction of FAIA will ease the work of auditors while 4 http://www.ey.com/Lu

Table des matières de la publication Le magazine du trésorier - n°76 - 4ème trimestre 2011

Sommaire
EDITORIAL - Over and over and over again
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
INTERVIEW - Jean-Louis Bertrand, Co-fondateur de METEO PROTECT
FOCUS
FORUM OF ADVERTISERS
CORPORATE FINANCE
TREASURERS' ASSOCIATIONS
NEWS

Le magazine du trésorier - n°76 - 4ème trimestre 2011