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Meeting changing regulatory and market challenges in today’s digital economy has made technology-driven VAT management a critical business need for effective control of tax activities. Incorporating software that automates high-volume and low value-added and manual tasks, makes automatic calculations, and facilitates accurate, hassle-free record keeping and submissions can help companies meet the continuous challenge of compliance.

New digital technologies have transformed the global tax landscape and enhanced efficiency, helping to reduce human error, minimise audit risks, improve management visibility and simplify processes. Blue dot has developed unique VAT software to cover today’s tax function needs and obligations – ensuring effortless compliance and tax management.

VAT and its Challenges

Value-added tax (VAT) is a consumption tax on goods and services imposed by governments at every stage where value is added to a product, from production to point of sale. The challenge for businesses is identifying and calculating VAT that is eligible for reclamation and ensuring accurate reporting.

VAT management is complex as it requires effective solutions to optimise, analyse and manage global and local VAT recovery processes, providing an in-depth view of all transactional data and increasing recovery potential. The consequences of non-compliance with global tax regulations include fines, loss of credibility and financial losses due to inefficient VAT processes.

The Role of VAT Software

Accounting software systems allow online invoicing, management of business expenses and transactions, and tracking VAT compliance. As VAT technology advances to support today’s tax-related activities and challenges, dedicated VAT return software is the most effective and efficient way to gain control of and simplify your taxation, reducing dependency on manual processes and spreadsheets and increasing accuracy. VAT software helps businesses automate VAT-related tasks, streamline processes and reduce errors, as well as support accurate and timely digital submission of VAT claims. 

Effective VAT-related technology extends to meet global government demands to replace manual entry of VAT returns, such as the UK’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) VAT regulations. MTD requires keeping records in digital format and filing returns using MTD-compliant VAT software or bridging software. Essential software functions include:

VAT calculation: Automatic VAT calculations to ensure accuracy and save valuable time.

VAT filing and reporting: Accurate and timely report generation and submission.

Compliance management: Increased control to identify and calculate VAT in compliance with relevant tax regulations and company policies and fulfil government VAT return process requirements.

Invoice management: Easy invoice tracking, eliminates the risk of incorrect transaction processing.

Data integration and reconciliation: Automated data extraction and import and support for reconciliation processes increase reporting accuracy and ensure optimal VAT reclaims. 

Audit trail and documentation: Digital recording of all VAT tax activities keeps track of transactions and submissions and maintains an effortless, audit-ready digital paper trail for full compliance and transparency.

Multi-jurisdiction support: The ability to manage all VAT obligations in different locations and countries, with updated cross-jurisdiction taxation rules to ease and simplify global and domestic VAT compliance and provide relevant data insights.

Compliance checks and validation: Identifies possible errors and anomalies in transaction data.

Analytics and reporting: Deliver comprehensive insights with real-time visibility and an in-depth picture of transactions for accurate reporting and record keeping.

Document storage and retrieval: Documents and data stored in one place enable easy tracking and retrieval to address any request for information and ensure transparent processes. 

Benefits of VAT Software

Reliable and efficient VAT software helps businesses to easily manage and track VAT obligations and tax data, stay up to date with regulations, and reduce the compliance burden of VAT.

Cost and time savings: Reduces costs and saves time by eliminating the need for labour-intensive manual processes.

Improved compliance: Digitalised processes enable comprehensive data checks and error identification to ensure accuracy and compliance and enable continuously updated taxation rules to reduce the risk of non-compliance.

Enhanced efficiency: Streamlined and automated technology-based processes free time for high-priority tasks, facilitate smart management decisions and optimised processes to maximise VAT recovery.

Scalability and flexibility: Meet and manage changing demands and volume without compromising accuracy or compliance. 

Choosing the Right VAT Software

Choosing the right VAT software can have a significant impact on your business. VAT software should enhance decision-making to help your business achieve optimal performance, managing all data and processes on a centralised platform. It’s important to take the time to review and examine these critical factors:

1. Assess your business needs and goals: Does the solution align with company policies, needs and expectations?
2. Research and compare VAT software solutions: What features does each solution offer to help run your business more efficiently? Does the solution incorporate advanced machine learning models, analytics and data mining tools to provide added insights?
3. Evaluate system integration and compatibility: Does the system allow easy integration with your expense management system? Is the system flexible enough to enable future changes and scaling?
4. Consider security and compliance: Does the system offer the highest level of data and process integrity as well as security standards?
5. Request demos and trial periods: See the solution in action and evaluate potential benefits.

Blue dot’s VAT Software is the Best in the Market

VAT software seamlessly integrated into your VAT processes and business systems can transform compliance. The right technology improves accuracy and control of tax-related functions, provides easy access to critical data, generates automated reports, and can handle changing demands.

Blue dot’s AI-driven VAT software makes VAT management easy, delivering the highest level of checks, controls, and calculations to simplify compliance and increase recovery potential. This enables businesses to:

• Achieve optimal performance that aligns with business needs
• Gain actionable insights into transactional data and VAT submissions that support data-driven decisions
• Ensure full VAT compliance 

Blue dot’s standardised and centralised platform analyses global and local VAT recovery processes while identifying unclaimed returns and avoidable costs, for effective and efficient tax management.