Eswatini VAT Bill Targets Nonresident Electronic Services Providers

• Eswatini’s VAT Amendment Bill would create a special registration and compliance regime for nonresident suppliers of electronic services, requiring them to register, charge, report, and remit VAT through an online process.
• The proposed rules define “electronic services” broadly, covering items such as software, streaming, cloud storage, databases, advertising platforms, cab-hailing services, and AI, when supplied from outside Eswatini to recipients in Eswatini.
• The regime is mainly B2C: nonresident suppliers would have to register where services are supplied to persons not registered for VAT in Eswatini; B2B supplies would generally remain subject to reverse-charge VAT by the local business customer.
• The bill sets location rules to deem a supply made in Eswatini based on factors such as the customer’s address, payment details, billing information, or access proxy indicating Eswatini.
• The amendments also propose an electronic invoicing system and new administrative and criminal penalties; the bill has passed both houses and is awaiting assent, with commencement on publication in the gazette.

Source: kpmg.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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