- Iman Deschâtres
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Platform rules are maturing and broadening. That’s the read from July.
Ukraine didn’t stop at DAC7 style reporting, it added withholding on seller income. Tanzania folded platforms into its VAT reform as deemed suppliers. Louisiana repealed the carve-out that had kept peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing platforms like out of its marketplace-facilitator definition. The UK is consulting on extending its own marketplace VAT liability rules to domestic sellers, not just overseas ones. And the IMF’s new working paper on taxing cross-border services backs destination-based VAT, taking a distinctly cooler view of DSTs.
Different laws, same direction: platforms are confirmed in their role of tax collector.
Here is a glimpse of what caught my attention…and as you read the plethora of changes and consider the challenges they present especially to marketplaces and their sellers, keep in mind that only the right system can enable growth and open new markets without financial or reputational risk. Of course, I note that any observations and comments are solely my own opinion and view, and not intended to be the provision of advice. You should not rely on these without checking with your own tax, legal and financial advisors.
IMF
The IMF has picked a side in the taxation of crossborder services, and it’s not subtle: use VAT, not DSTs, not both.
Destination-based VAT wins on both counts that matter. It’s neutral between foreign and domestic suppliers, and it doesn’t distort trade the way turnover-based taxes do. DSTs, by contrast, tax gross revenue regardless of profit. The IMF’s own data shows the burden lands on business customers and consumers, not the multinationals it targets.
Not that DSTs are going anywhere. With Pillar One still stalled, the IMF expects them to stick around.
Ukraine
Ukraine’s platform reporting rules go further than the EU’s DAC7 model. Platforms won’t just share seller data, they’ll withhold 10% from qualifying sellers’ income and remit it monthly.
The rollout runs in stages: Registration is due by 1 November 2026, withholding starts 1 January 2027, and the first report is due in 2028.
The OECD has a public consultation open until 14 August 2026 on amendments to the underlying Model Reporting Rules, but the trend is already set: reporting keeps spreading globally, and withholding on seller income is extending too.
United Kingdom
Marketplace may become liable for UK seller VAT.
HMRC and HM Treasury are consulting on extending online marketplace VAT liability to UK-based sellers, not just overseas ones.
Two protections are floated for small sellers: a minimum platform threshold aligned with the £90,000 VAT registration threshold, or an alternative relief mechanism instead. The Second-Hand Margin Scheme’s future under the new rules is also under review. HMRC says engagement would include roundtable discussions with stakeholders. The consultation closes 18 August 2026.
Platforms may not only have to identify where a seller is located, but depending on how the legislation is implemented, this could become harder to manage, not easier. Seller location remains a criterion, and if the seller is UK-based, platforms may still have to manage thresholds or tax credit payments separately. Not really a simplification.
Tanzania
Tanzania widens its digital tax net, following Kenya’s playbook
Three shifts are happening at once. First: VAT collection on foreign digital supplies moves off individual sellers and onto the platform. Tanzania’s Finance Act 2026, in force from 1 July, makes marketplaces and intermediaries deemed suppliers, responsible for collecting and remitting VAT. Second: the digital service tax itself rises, from 2% to 3% of gross payments. Third: excise duty now covers certain non-resident digital services too, including pay-to-view content.
The timeline is tight – the first affected return, for July, is already due 20 August. Platforms operating in Tanzania have very little runway to get their systems aligned before the first filing deadline hits.
United States
Louisiana
Peer-to-peer platforms are becoming in scope of marketplace facilitator rules as confirmed by the state’s Department. Louisiana DOR, Revenue Ruling 23-001.
Utah and Arizona
Both states simplified their economic nexus thresholds down to a single value-based test, dropping the transaction-count prong that has tripped up smaller remote sellers for years.
Colorado
Colorado is following California moving to tax downloaded software and SaaS from 2027.
Chile
Chile’s tax authority keeps tightening enforcement on offshore platforms: platforms that don’t comply, payment processors collect from instead.
The announcement that gambling platforms would be next paid off. The response was immediate. Within 24 hours, 25 platforms registered. Nine held out, those are now the ones payment processors withhold from directly.
Enforcement
Sweden
Sweden’s expanded anti-VAT-fraud powers formally entered into force as of July 1st.
Singapore
IRAS’s published audit results show what falling behind on legislation update costs. One business that failed to update its belonging-status treatment for media sales after the 2022 change faced an adjustment of more than S$2 million on its own (roughly US$1.6 million). That single case is part of roughly 2,800 audits that together recovered S$205 million in FY2024/25 (roughly US$160 million).
Other
- South Africa’s compulsory VAT registration threshold jumps from R1 million to R2.3 million in taxable supplies over any 12-month period, effective from 1 April 2026 under the Revenue Laws and Budget Act.
- Guinea is introducing a “digital compliance fee,” the Redevance de Conformité Numérique, reaching streaming, cloud, SaaS, advertising, e-commerce, gaming and booking services, with a six-month runway before enforcement starts. It is just a DST dressed up.
- Jamaica is being urged by industry commentators to press ahead with its own long-discussed DST despite the tariff pressure Washington has applied to countries that tax American tech firms.
- Indonesia’s tax office appointed two AI companies as VAT collectors for electronic commerce.
Disclaimer: The views, statements or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not represent tax advice and are not to be designated to be the views, statements or opinions of any other person, group, association or company.
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