Evaluating your businesses VAT reclaim readiness

The benefits of successful VAT recovery can shift your finances into the next gear. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t elements that can’t stall the process. So, how can businesses ensure that when they start the VAT recovery process, there aren’t any bumps in the road? Well, it begins with understanding your VAT reclaim readiness. After all, without the proper guidance, the VAT recovery process can quickly exhaust critical resources. The last thing you want is for all your time and effort to result in an unsuccessful reclaim. 

So, to help you streamline your VAT reclaim process, here are our top things to keep in mind when assessing your business VAT reclaim readiness. 

Identify your eligible expenses

The first step towards VAT reclaim readiness is understanding which expenses you can rightfully reclaim as a business. When reviewing your eligible expenses, it’s essential to take a country and industry-specific approach, as eligibility criteria differ depending on both. A part of this process is also to highlight any VAT-exempt supplies which are not eligible for reclaim. That being said, the scope for VAT recovery opportunities is more extensive than most businesses realise. It includes significant options for VAT recovery within domestic and foreign supplier spend, travel and entertainment (T & E) costs, and various Accounts Payable (AP). 

Confirm your registration requirements

Different registration thresholds will apply depending on where you reclaim your VAT. Therefore, before continuing with the recovery process, your business must know where it is subject to mandatory VAT registration and where it is not. After that, depending on where your company is VAT registered, you can better understand which directive you fall under for domestic and foreign VAT recovery. 

Confirm your VAT directive

VAT recovery can be segmented into two overarching categories; domestic and foreign recovery. The entire VAT reclaim process hinges on whether or not you’re reclaiming foreign or domestic expenses. This is due to the fact that different VAT directives and county specific legislation will apply. So, to better assess your VAT readiness, it’s critical that you understand which VAT directive applies to your business. The different claims are as follows: 

VAT-compliant invoicing

Depending on the directive and country, different invoicing instructions may apply. The entire success of your reclaim can hinge on whether or not your invoices comply with the relevant legislation and VAT treatment. Therefore, assessing and reviewing all transactions and invoices is important to ensure compliance. This also includes complying with the specific return dates and deadlines per country. 

VAT recovery made easy with VAT IT

Just because the recovery process can get sidetracked by many variables doesn't mean it has to. Instead, count on us to make VAT reclaim simple. At VAT IT, our experts understand the niche requirements of VAT recovery on a global scale to ensure that you maximise your returns without wasting any time, effort or money. In fact, we give you more of it. 

Effortlessly integrate our state-of-the-art technology and human touch to review and assess all transactions for their reclaim readiness on auto-pilot. Alternatively, get in touch here, and we'll assess your overall VAT reclaim potential for you.