Political Risk Insurance

   International business opportunities are no longer being pursued only by large corporations. When smaller U.S. companies sell to foreign governments or invest in overseas operations, they need protection against political risks just as much as bigger firms, even more so if they're trying to attract lenders or investors.

   Political risk insurance is now available for all sizes of companies and all types of international projects, ventures, and transactions, including (1) contract coverage for sales to foreign governments risk insurance (2) protection for U.S. companies' assets located in other countries.

government, public-sector buyer, or government-owned entity, contract repudiation insurance can protect against non-payment of your invoices or non-honoring of your contracts, either before or after your shipment of goods or performance of services.

   Coverage can also be written to indemnify against frustration of your contracts with private-sector entities that might be unable to perform due to expropriation, currency inconvertibility, political violence, or other local/international government actions or political events that would be out of your-or their-control.

   If your business relies on licenses or permits issued by foreign governments, then you can obtain political risk insurance to cover against cancellation of import or export licenses or business permits, as well as embargoes, boycotts, sanctions, or decrees causing business interruption, payment defaults, or other losses.

term or for the duration of a contract-in order to secure your balance sheet and facilitate the arrangement of financing from your lenders or investors.

   Inconvertibility policies cover your right to exchange local currency for U.S. dollars or other hard currencies and protect against government prohibitions on transferring hard currency out of the country.

   For more information about political risk insurance, visit www.meridianfinance.com, call (310) 260-2130 ext 125.

Euro VAT Refund News 

VAT Filing Deadline for Europe is approaching 

   Many U.S. companies are leaving Value Added TAX (VAT) money behind in Europe. Are you one of them? The possibility of receiving the VAT paid on most business expenses refunded has been around for many years, but still hundreds of millions of Euro are not reclaimed. The deadline for claiming back last year's (2014) business related VAT incurred on events, hotels, transportation, and other costs in the various EU countries is fast approaching. Please contact Euro VAT Refund, Inc. before March 1, 2015 for a VAT refund.

Sales of Electronically Supplied Services Within the EU

   VAT rules regarding Electronically Supplied Services were implemented within the European Union (EU) this year. The new rules make it possible for a North American company to register in one EU country, different from where their customers are located.

   Most North American companies that sell services online to private people within the EU (and other parts of the world) are not aware about their VAT registration liabilities. If a North American company sell online services to private people within the EU, then VAT registration in one of the EU countries is required. Once the North American company is VAT registered (In the UK for example) they charge VAT according to each country's VAT rate where your private customers are located; example: 25% to Swedish customer, 21% to Dutch customer, 19% to German customer, and so on.

   Companies that do sell services illegally to private people without a VAT registration can run into major liability issues. The risk of getting caught is also very high because many EU companies are on the lookout for these North American companies since they compete with their client base.

   Rules change when a North American company sells services business to business from the US to the EU countries, since then generally no VAT registration is necessary. In turn, the North American company generally does not need to charge VAT to the company customer if they can confirm that they are VAT registered within the EU. But this can vary also depending on what service it is. 

   It is also important to be aware that most countries outside of the European Union have a VAT system as well. If services are also sold to other countries it is extremely important to look into the rules for each of these countries before any trade begin, since the North American company might be required to have a local establishment before any services are sold online.  

   Contact Euro VAT Refund for further information at 310-204-0805 or www.eurovat.com