vat mass validation services
TRANSCRIPT
1
VAT Mass Registration Number Validation Services
Alain Blattmann+41 79 476 68 72Contact: [email protected]
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
2
VAT registration number validation
What happens in case checks are no performed?• Assessment of VAT because exemption is not accepted• Increased with interests & penalties• Additional administrative costs• Risk of additional, time consuming, audits by tax Authorities
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
Why check VAT numbers?• To issue correct invoices
• To perform and report transactions correctly
• To submit correct EU Sales and Purchase Listings
• To have proof that a given VAT number is/was valid and belongs to your customer/supplier (name and address validation) Complexity
• Each jurisdiction may apply their own interpretation of the requirement.• This may include not only validating the VAT number but as well the customer name and address. • It is expected at a minimum that customer VAT numbers will be validated and that this validation is performed on a regular basis.• Valid VAT registration numbers must be sought for instances where a number is found to be ‘invalid’ or missing from the record. • This is a time consuming and manual task for organizations, which could be subject to error.
3UK - Recommendations - Reasonable steps
HMRC does not expect you to go beyond what is reasonable but will be seeking to identify what actions you took to check the validity of your customer's EU VAT registration number. This will focus on the due diligence checks you undertook and, most importantly, the actions taken by you in response to the results of those checks.
We would consider 'reasonable steps' to be, you genuinely doing everything you can to check the integrity of the VAT registration number, being able to demonstrate you have done so and taking heed of any indications that the number may be invalid.
Some examples of not having taken 'reasonable steps' would be:
• using a VAT number that does not conform to the published format for your customer’s Member State as shown in paragraph 16.19, or • using a VAT number that you have not regularly checked using the Europa website or with HMRC• using a VAT number which you have already been informed is invalid, or • using a VAT number which you know does not belong to your customer.
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
Source:http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_000152
4
VAT EU Commission
Under the new VAT system intra-Community supplies of goods are exempt from
VAT in the Member State of dispatch when they are made to a taxable person in
another Member State who will account for the VAT on arrival. Therefore any
taxable person making such supplies must be able to check quickly and easily
that their customers in another Member State are taxable persons and
do hold a valid VAT identification number. For that purpose, inter alia, each
tax administration maintains an electronic database containing the VAT
registration data of its traders. Such information includes the VAT identification
number, the date of issue, the trader's name, the trader's address and, where
applicable, the date of cessation of validity of a VAT number.
What they have done
Web page to verify validity of a VAT identification number issued by a Member
State.
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/traders/intra_community_supplies/index_en.htm
5
Services Offering
Mass validation of Value Added Tax (VAT) using the EU
Commission VIES services
Clear results classification (Valid / Failed)
Categorisation of the failed to support further analysis
Print Screen of the “VIES” web page result
Multi pass validation is performed against VIES in case of
services unavailability – Ensure all records are properly
checked
Possibility provided to check/validate <Customer Name> /
<Customer Address>
<Customer Name> / <Customer address> translation to
English © 2012 [email protected] All rights
reserved.
6
Input Needed
Column B – VAT Number to check (first two digit = Country code then VAT number)
Column A (Optional) – Requester VAT Number (first two digit = Country code then VAT number)
Column C (Optional) = Customer Name to check
Column D (Optional) = Customer Address to check
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
7
Results Validation
Validation Status (Yes/No)
Date when request received (VIES)
Error Message (When validation Status in “No”) – (Invalid input -
VIES)
Consultations numbers (VIES) – When requester provided
When available: Customer Name (VIES) / Customer Name in English
When available: Customer Address (VIES) / Customer Address in
English
Screen Shoot hyperlink (VIES)
Customer name check (number of words checked) % of match
Customer address check (number of words checked) % of match
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
12
Extra Steps For Invalid VAT
Q7 : The system indicates that a number is invalid. What action should I take?A number can be invalid for a number of reasons. In the first case, check with your customer that the number quoted by him is correct (correct number of characters, correct length). If the number quoted by your customer, even after checking, continues to be invalid, you should ask him to contact his tax administration.
Q12 : What do I have to do if my own VAT number appears as invalid?The Commission´s web site is a real-time system which checks the validity of VAT identification numbers against the databases maintained by Member States.If your VAT number appears as invalid, you should take this matter up with your own tax administration.
Q13 : What do I have to do if the VAT number of my customer appears as invalid?The Commission´s web site is a real-time system which checks the validity of VAT identification numbers against the databases maintained by Member States. In other words, when you check a number, it is the database of that Member State that is being checked.If the VAT number of your customer comes up as invalid, then he should take the matter up with his fiscal administration.
Q20 : Is there a database with all VAT registered persons available?There does not exist a European data base with VAT registered persons. The Commission web site is connected to the Member States VAT databases respectively and the verification is based on the information available in the respective database.Source: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/faq.html
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
13Results Validation – Summary Results
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
# of word of more than 3
letter to match
# of word mathchin
g VIES
14
Yes, valid VAT number.
No, invalid VAT number. (meaning that the number introduced is not
valid at least on the date specified)
Service unavailable. Please re-submit your request later. (meaning there
is some problem with either the network or the Web application)
Member State service unavailable. Please re-submit your request later.
(meaning the application in the Member State whose VAT number you
are trying to validate is not available)
Error: Incomplete (VAT + Member State) or corrupted data input.
Request time-out. Please re-submit your request later.
VIES possible answer
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/faq.html© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
Multi pass validation is performed against VIES in case of services unavailability to ensure you can focus only on true VAT identification number errors
15
Contact
© 2012 [email protected] All rights reserved.
Alain Blattmann+41 79 476 68 72Email: [email protected]