Moving Beyond T&E and A/P VAT Reclaim

At VAT IT, it’s our job to find new recovery opportunities for our clients so they can really maximise on their savings. So we spend countless hours researching indirect taxes of all kinds to find ways to get those taxes back. Over the years, we have found that while very few companies have the knowledge that they can reclaim VAT on T&E and A/P expenses, even fewer know that other taxes are claimable. We’d like to spread the knowledge of these hidden taxes so you can empower your company to save more and claim back what’s rightfully yours. 

Import VAT

Whether your company is in IT, cloud-computing software, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, mining or manufacturing – If your company has shipped equipment DDP to foreign countries, you have been incurring significant foreign tax charges. This can include import tax, tax on foreign purchase of equipment and tax on colocation costs. These costs are not always stored in A/P and are sometimes held with the shipping logistics team making it possible to miss in a tax retrieval of A/P expenses. For example, we have 130 telecom and cloud computing clients who we assist with the recovery of Import VAT and save them millions of pounds a year. We managed to save one client alone over 20 million pounds in import tax.

Benefit in Kind

The use of benefit in kind (BIK) or fringe payments to compensate employees is practiced in almost all developed economies. Reporting on your BIK is an absolute necessity for your payroll tax declaration. However, there may be separate local requirements in every country on both a reporting and document level therefore staying compliant can become difficult. If your payroll team is unfamiliar with a local country’s reporting rules, your business risks non-compliance and tax penalties. Having a specialist team to handle this for you can save your business money and alleviate your internal teams from administration so they can focus on more important things.

Invoice Storage

Most VAT Authorities require that a company keeps its invoices for a standard amount of time even after a return has been performed. The obligatory storage time can amount up to a few years and therefore space becomes an issue for many businesses. If your business has rolled out a scan-and-destroy policy, you may still be required to store your scanned invoices for years to support a return. Digital and physical storage can be an administrative nightmare and can be something that is completely outsourced. 

Mineral Oil Tax

For air charter companies and companies that own their own private jets, MOT is a massive amount of duties on the fueling receipts. Mineral Oil Tax can be claimed in some countries provided certain criteria are met. We have a Private Jet Charter client who is responsible for flying Qatari royal family members between Europe and Qatar and they have saved 2.3 million Euros in Mineral Oil Tax reclaim. It’s definitely worth looking into if you’re a charter operator or own a company jet.

Registrations & Filing

Many businesses make a the decision to outsource the administration of foreign and domestic VAT registrations. This is because the task requires knowledge of local tax legislation and procedures as well as the relevant language skills. Without this, your application can be queried or rejected which will significantly delay business development. With regards to filing, once registered for VAT in a country, you will be required to file periodic statutory declarations and VAT returns. Because every vat return is different and requires different information and reporting formats, companies choose to outsource this to experts who can guarantee 100% compliancy. 

There are so many ways to save your company money and contribute it to your bottom line. And you’re not expected to know them all – that’s why companies like ours exist. Speaking to an expert in the industry can really help you unlock those extra cash savings lying around your business. All you have to do is ask someone who knows how to find it. Or you can start by downloading the international VAT guide below and take your first step to harness VAT recovery. 

A downloadable guide to cross-border VAT refunds

It’s worth keeping an easy-access guide to reciprocity, expense type, claiming periods and deadlines for cross-border VAT refunds. It will help your VAT department to harness the opportunities available to your business within foreign VAT recovery. 

Boosting cash flow and contributing to your bottom line starts with a single step. Knowing what the opportunities are. Start your journey now by downloading this free international VAT guide to cross- border VAT refunds.