Steve McCrindle
Later than I’d have wished due to my other work commitments but nevertheless now published, I have the pleasure of presenting our Autumn 2022 GGI Indirect Taxes Practice Group FYI Newsletter.
The lead article was written by one of my team members, Omid Motaleb, but it is not for this reason that it is the lead article. Omid’s article may initially seem only to be about “the place of supply”, but it also reveals what I see as an everyday, practical challenge we face as indirect tax practitioners. A client asks us for advice; we provide it and the client dismisses it because a “barrack-room lawyer”, usually a person that knows nothing about indirect taxes, says we are wrong. This what I refer to as the “I met a bloke down the pub” scenario. I find it curious that a client would ignore professional advice and instead, believe the word of a bloke down the pub, but, hey, maybe the bloke really knows his stuff. The more likely explanation is that clients only want to hear good news, no matter the source. It does provide us all with a challenge.
Toon Hassleman’s article is about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which I believe will become a very big area of business for VAT practitioners in the years to come. At Haines Watts, we are already dealing with a handful of these types of businesses and the real “can of worms” the VAT aspect of this sector is. As Toon alludes, this was something we discussed at the GGI World Conference in Montréal, from which I have just returned. One attendee was surprised to learn that he had an NFT on his iPhone – a ticket to a football game – which was worth USD 60 as a collector’s item. NFTs represent a fascinating area of VAT, a new frontier.
All seven articles are excellent reading and I trust you will enjoy them as much I have.
It would be remiss of me to sign off without asking for contributions to our Spring 2023 GGI Indirect Taxes FYI Newsletter. Please drop me or Barbara Reiss an email suggesting an article topic. We are happy to receive any and all suggestions.
Stay safe!
Kind regards,
Steve McCrindleResponsible Editor & Global Chair of the GGI Indirect Taxes Practice Group
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Steve McCrindle is a VAT Partner at Haines Watts, a leading provider of business advice and accounting services to owner managers operating in the UK and abroad. He is also Global Chairperson of the GGI Indirect Taxes Practice Group. Contact Steve.