As has happened with every disruptive technology in human history, the decision to use AI or not is no longer really ours to make. In practice, the decision has already been made by the market, by clients and by the pace of technological change.   Under the assumption that society finds a way to keep feeding the immense appetite of this new monster, AI is here to stay. Like our ancestors when they discovered fire, we face the same dilemma: it can burn if left uncontrolled, but we have no sensibl...

Generative AI is not simply another productivity tool. For professional firms built on expert knowledge, judgement and accumulated experience, it forces a deeper question: if AI can perform many of the tasks traditionally assigned to junior professionals, how should the professional career path be redesigned? Key takeaways AI weakens some traditional junior tasks, but it does not eliminate the need for junior professionals.The junior role should combine professional training with operational lea...

As commented in past entries, the so called "Verifactu Ordinance" (Royal Decree 1007/2023 of 5 December), introduced the obligation for companies and entrepreneurs (among others, Spanish branches and permanent establishments of non-resident companies eligible for the Non Residents Income tax) to adapt their invoicing software to the technical standards it regulated, namely, generation of traceable invoicing records  accessible by the tax authorities under demand, unless the company opts for the ...

This article offers a practical overview of the issues which may specially affect those Spanish entities appertaining to multinational groups within the scope of the obligations resulting from VeriFactu, when using centralized invoicing solutions, as well as to propose alternatives to ensure compliance.   I. When does a multinational need to comply with VeriFactu?   Multinational companies operating in Spain often face the challenge of aligning group-wide billing systems with highly specific loc...

As the deadline approaches for the filing of form 361 by those non-EU business applying for the refund of the Spanish VAT the may have incurred during the previous year on occasion of their operative in Spain, it seems timely to revisit a persistent problem in this area: the requirement of reciprocity by article 119bis of the Spanish VAT Act, that transposes the special VAT refund procedure regulated in the Council Directive 86/560 EEC (Thirteenth Directive).   The legal framework   When regulat...

While the VIDA is still to be fully implemented and trasposed, and besides having to digest the changes and their practical consequences, the companies are now invited to elaborate about a notional “post-VIDA” scenario where,again, the VAT Gap mantra is central.Without denying the importance of this imacroeconomic issue, I find the interests of the taxpayers to be completely forgotten, apart from the assumption that, as a colateral, the VIDA will result in an easier management of their VAT compl...