Towards a one stop shop for cross-border VAT compliance

European Commission. Common rules are proposed for the one stop shop which will be in place as of 2015. It will first apply to telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services and could be extended to other sectors in the future.

Article 397 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC1 (hereinafter “the VAT Directive”) provides that “the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt the measures necessary to implement this Directive”.

On that basis, the Council adopted Council Regulation (EU) No 282/20112, which provides binding rules on the application of certain provisions of the VAT Directive and – inter alia – gave legal certainty to a number of non-binding guidelines agreed by the VAT Committee since 1977.

Large elements of Regulation No 282/2011 are composed of provisions which relate to the adoption of Directive 2008/8/EC3. Article 5 of that Directive contains legal changes concerning the special schemes for telecommunications, broadcasting or electronic services supplied to non-taxable persons by suppliers not established in the Member State of taxation.

Regulation No 282/2011 currently does not provide for any implementing measure related to those provisions which will come into force as of 2015. Therefore it is necessary to adapt that Regulation in order to establish binding rules on the application of the respective provisions of the VAT Directive.

These measures should be adopted by Council as soon as possible and in any case by the middle of 2012, in order to enable the Commission and the Member States to agree on the functional and technical specifications of the IT systems that need to be built for the implementation of these special schemes.

The proposed measures only relate to those aspects (definitions, scope of the schemes, reporting obligations, identification, exclusion, VAT returns, currency, payments, records) for which a common understanding is needed before designing the IT systems. Other measures, notably relating to the determination of the location of the customer, will be proposed by the Commission at a later stage. 

Only Section 2 of Chapter XI of Regulation No 282/2011 needs to be amended.

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011 as regards the special schemes for non-established taxable persons supplying telecommunications services, broadcasting services or electronic services to non-taxable persons x

Over 100,000 primary care providers sign up to adopt electronic health records through their Regional Extension Centers

November 17, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC – The HHS Office for the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced today that more than 100,000 primary care providers are adopting certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to help improve their quality of care and ultimately lower health care costs. This commitment by more than one-third of all primary care providers nationwide to work with their Regional Extension Center (REC) to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs as a way to transition from paper records to certified EHRs, representing a major step toward broader and more meaningful use of health IT.

Designed to jump start EHR adoption, the Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, part of the Recovery Act, created a nationwide network of RECs comprised of local nonprofits, to provide guidance and resources to help eligible professionals make the transition from paper records to certified EHRs. Eligible providers that meet meaningful use of certified EHRs criteria may be eligible for incentive payments under the Recovery Act.

The 62 RECs focus on assisting primary care providers and those providers serving traditionally medically underserved populations as they take part in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and meaningfully use EHRs in ways that can reduce health care costs, increase patient safety, and improve the overall quality of patient care. These providers face challenges in EHR adoption including tight budgets, over-stretched health information technology staff, and limited broadband access.

“The RECs are playing an integral role in helping providers on the path to EHR adoption,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. “This compelling milestone demonstrates strong interest in adoption and meaningful use among community health centers, small practices, and rural providers that can lead to improvements in health and healthcare.”

One-half of the providers committed to making the transition to certified EHRs are in small group practices or consortia of small group practices. The remaining providers focus on the underserved with 18 percent in community health centers, 11 percent in public hospitals, and 21 percent in other underserved settings, such as critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, and practices in medically underserved areas.

RECs serve the majority of primary care providers in small practices in rural areas. Today’s figures include over half of the targeted 1,776 critical access and rural hospitals in 41 states and throughout Indian Country.

A complete listing of REC grant recipients and additional information about Regional Extension Centers may be found at http://www.HealthIT.hhs.gov/REC/.

For more information about how health IT can lead to safer, better, and more efficient health care, visit http://www.healthit.gov/.

For information about the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, see http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms.

For information about HHS Recovery Act health IT programs, see http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/announcements/by_topic.html#hit.