Navigating VAT recovery in supply chain and procurement

Businesses within the supply chain and procurement space are well familiar with the challenges of navigating rising costs and unpredictable legislation within the industry. Yet, even with rigorous efforts put towards navigating the space, the number of international businesses, both large and small, leaving cash on the table is growing rapidly. 

So, what’s keeping businesses from successfully recovering expenses that are rightfully theirs to reclaim? In a recent report in The Raconteur, we explore this very question and highlight the key ways VAT IT helped businesses claim significant refunds from international transactions without having to exhaust critical resources. 

VAT reclaim opportunity in unusual places

To truly maximise your VAT yield, it’s essential to know where to look - and more often than not, the opportunities are hidden in the most unusual places. In our recent rapport published in The Raconteur, we look at some prime examples of how VAT IT uncovered even the most intricate (yet significant) reclaim opportunities and injected savings into the business. Here’s what we found:

Staying on top of receipts and invoices

One of the most significant drawbacks when it comes to successfully reclaiming VAT is that of retaining and managing receipts and invoices. This is specifically challenging for any firm with a sales presence in multiple territories - and rightfully so. This challenge was highlighted by Judith D’Aguilar, global VAT director at software giant Citrix. 

In The Raconteur, D’Aguilar mentioned that even with a designated

accounts payable department, as well as the latest travel and expenses monitoring assistance, manually tracking and managing VAT refunds across multiple international transactions became increasingly resource intensive and complex. 

Suspecting significant VAT opportunities were slipping through the cracks, Citrix onboarded VAT IT to simplify processes and optimise recovery. 

The result? VAT IT recovered $900,000 (£750,000).

Navigating VAT reclaim in an unpredictable international climate

International businesses are often subject to a range of unpredictable factors, both political and economic, that forces them to switch supply chains. This exposes them to new territories and jurisdictions that are tricky to navigate without in-depth and up-to-date expertise on the local VAT legislation. 

This further complicates the recovery process and increases the potential VAT recovery loss due to missed opportunities. In the recent Raconteur report, Marc Sevitz, managing director for global operations and enterprise at VAT IT, deep dives into this common challenge, highlighting the impact of Brexit, lockdown, and additional international relations on finance teams and, in turn, the missed recovery opportunities.

Sync your current systems with VAT Cloud

Generally, international companies are burdened with the monumental task of not only clawing back VAT from multiple territories and products, but also syncing their VAT findings with their expense management process that’s notoriously complicated and dependent on inflexible technology. However, the recent Raconteur report elaborates on how an international firm was able to simultaneously sync its existing technology with VAT IT’s ‘VAT Cloud’, a cloud-based platform that offers real-time reporting capabilities - effortlessly syncing and standardising the entire VAT recovery process. 

Tech when it counts, human where it matters

Ultimately, when it comes to successfully finding and recovering hidden VAT opportunities, VAT IT follows one core principle; tech when it counts, human where it matters. Your VAT solution needs to work as an extension of your finance team while utilising optimal technology to streamline manual processes. 

Through a combination of VAT technology and hands-on personal service, businesses can take their refunds from hundreds of thousands to millions while remaining in international tax compliance. Curious about what VAT IT can do for your business? 

We’ve got you (re)covered.