VATupdate Newsletter Week 6 2026

ICE

The Winter Olympics are currently taking place in Italy, and although I don’t usually watch that many sports on TV (except for Formula 1), it’s hard to miss some of the things happening on the ice. The Netherlands used to be the country with the best speed skaters in the world, so naturally the whole nation expects our athletes to bring home at least a couple of medals.

Yes, it’s a bit arrogant (self-overestimation at its absolute peak) but it’s also something that bonds the Dutch together. And to be fair: there isn’t much else, besides perhaps King’s Day, when the whole country turns orange and we collectively pretend that second-hand junk is a national treasure.

But the Olympics remain special. The tension, the precision, the drama, the endless slow-motion replays of a skate blade missing the apex by 3 millimetres. And somehow, even people who don’t know the difference between a clap skate and a croquette suddenly become experts on aerodynamics, cornering lines, and “the right mental focus.”

And that’s when it hit me:

Speed skating is basically the VAT world on ice.

Think about it.

Everyone starts on the same track: the VAT Directive, the OECD guidelines, the “we swear this will simplify things” promises. But then each country takes its own lane, interprets the rules slightly differently, or adds its own national quirks that send you sliding wide out of the curve.

Just like skaters, businesses keep pushing for that perfect lap time: fast onboarding, real-time reporting, validated tax IDs, clean invoices, the works. And every year the judges (also known as tax authorities) tighten the rules a little more.

And this week?

The ice got seriously resurfaced.

Here are some highlights of last week’s VAT developments:

EU VAT Gap hits €128 billion.
UAE goes full digital: mandatory e-invoicing for all VAT businesses from 2026.
China releases an entire catalogue of 2026 VAT changes.
Belgium confirms its 2026 B2B e-invoicing mandate and a broader VAT reform package.
South Africa announces mandatory e-invoicing & e-reporting by 2028.

By the way, if you want to follow all these developments, you can always rely on VATupdate.com. And if you really can’t get enough, you can even subscribe to the weekly newsletter.

Just remember: Speed skaters glide around a perfect circle, lap after lap, trying to shave off milliseconds.

VAT professionals do the same thing, just with more spreadsheets and fewer aerodynamic suits.

Although… given the direction of EU digital reporting, I wouldn’t rule out the aerodynamic suits for VAT teams in 2030.

See you next week. Stay warm, stay compliant, and may your VAT never slip out of its lane.

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas that you want to share with us, please send us an email at [email protected] or leave a comment under the posts of this newsletter on LinkedIn.

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