VAT Consulting

Your expert for questions

Sounia Kombert
Partner, Indirect Tax Leader at PwC Germany
Tel.: +49 221 2084-384
Email

VAT Consulting by Experts

VAT can be a burden on a company’s finances if regulations and duties are not adhered to. Constant updates and independent advice provide valuable assistance in tax accounting. With the support of PwC IT systems, sources of error can be minimized, and audits simulated.

Focus on VAT

Indirect taxes such as VAT are becoming increasingly important for companies, as the tax authorities have discovered this type of tax as a secure source of revenue. In contrast to income taxes, VAT is more independent of economic fluctuations and is therefore becoming an increasingly important focus of company and VAT special audits.

Technical developments and expanded legal frameworks are ensuring that tax authorities can audit business transactions more effectively and comprehensively. The risk of additional burdens is intensified by the extremely formal structure of VAT, which makes it easy for tax officials to identify violations.

Because VAT is based on input and output sales, which reach much larger volumes than a company’s profits, the tax bases also increase and lead to higher tax burdens in the event of incorrect assessments.

Moreover, since the tax administrations of different countries - especially at the level of the European Union - are cooperating more and more, the risk of being audited is constantly increasing, making VAT an international challenge as well. Globally active companies must therefore keep an eye on the legal situation abroad.

With the right tax strategy, an audited resource planning system, trained employees and a well-thought-out Tax Compliance Management System (TCMS), all these risks can be minimized.

Value Added Tax Returns / Reporting Obligations 

PwC professionals support companies and the public sector in the VAT treatment and assessment of national and international issues related to indirect taxes.

They help their clients to properly comply with their declaration duties while maintaining a sensible cost-benefit approach. In many cases, a reconciliation of the annual financial statements and income statement with the advance returns and annual returns can provide information as to whether VAT-liable entrepreneurs have properly subjected their services to VAT. However, a full check of the entries, considering the tax codes used, provides deeper and more comprehensive insights. If you need to make adjustments, our experts will be happy to share their expertise with you. 

In certain cases, taxpayers can invoke more favorable EU law. Therefore, a comparison of the regulations of the VAT System Directive with national law in a specific case may reveal that VAT should not be levied for services provided by a trader, or that input tax may be deducted to a greater extent, or for the first time. Here, too, the PwC team will be happy to help communicate the relevant regulations to the tax authorities. 

The legal framework for properly complying with tax duties and correctly completing the respective prescribed declaration is becoming increasingly comprehensive and stringent. This applies to both domestic and foreign declarations. PwC can support you with its expertise in domestic tax returns and its international network of independent firms for foreign returns as well. 

• Do you need in-house training to increase the know-how of your employees?
• Do you need VAT registration in the domestic market, another EU country or a third country?
• Do you need a VAT identification number?
• Would you like to have the VAT settings of your ERP system checked to ensure that advance VAT returns are submitted correctly and that you can meet your VAT duties at the touch of a button?

The PwC VAT team can help you with all these questions and many more. The employees look forward to getting to know you.

Tax Compliance Management - Process Consulting

Tax compliance - the establishment of the relevant VAT processes and the documentation of the TCMS - can stymie management. For this reason, and many others, it is increasingly becoming one of the core tasks of comprehensive tax consulting and thus one of the important consulting areas of the PwC tax firm. There you will receive comprehensive support. It ranges from holding a workshop on site to present the specifications and measures required for a TCMS, which can then be implemented internally within the company, to comprehensive support and setting up a functioning TCMS. The advice provided by PwC’s specialists is tailored to your needs and wishes.

Indirect Taxes and Technology

Based on their work with many clients, the team has experience in identify the audit priorities of the tax authorities. This helps you prepare optimally for future audits.

Progressive digitization in the area of VAT enables and requires the use of software solutions and tools to an ever-greater extent. This is especially true because the tax authorities are also investing heavily in this area. PwC's VAT advisory service has a wide range of digital tools at its disposal, which it uses in its daily work, but which can also be made available to you and your company.

Are you looking for a partner? We are here for you!

Get to know the PwC team that supports you in indirect tax matters.

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