VAT REVIEWS

To Optimise your VAT

VAT REVIEWS

SERVICE AT A GLANCE

Brief Reviews: A general overview of what the organisation, or part of the organisation, is doing, for VAT
General Reviews: A fuller examination of the VAT implications, and opportunities, of the organisation
Full Reviews: An in-depth evaluation of the VAT implications, and opportunities, of the organisation on a transactional basis – a full VAT audit

Ensuring proper compliance with VAT legislation and HMRC requirements
Identifying VAT savings and optimisation opportunities
Peace of mind – knowing that VAT matters have properly been considered

HOW CAN THIS SERVICE HELP YOU?

VAT reviews are at the cutting edge of the services that VATangles provide, and the work we carry out in this area gives our clients confidence that their operations are efficient and effective.

VAT Reviews are central to ensuring compliance with the sometimes onerous, and changing, requirements of the VAT legislation as well as identifying opportunities for VAT planning, cash flow savings or other efficiencies. To ensure best practice of your VAT accountancy, we would recommend that reviews take place periodically.

In our experience, the best approach for most organisations is engage us to deliver our General VAT Review. Our Brief VAT Review, although competitively priced, is more suited to implement in a segment of an organisation. And, our Full VAT Review involves a detailed evaluation of the organisation and scrutiny of some or all core documents. The level of examination and the number of hours required to undertake our Full VAT Review can work out expensive. Our Full VAT Review is befitting when an organisation, or part of the organisation, is being investigated by other agencies.

In practice, more than 90% of the VAT reviews that we undertake are General VAT Reviews; this review gives meaningful consideration to the activities and opportunities of the organisation, whilst, at the same time, being cost-effective. In our General VAT Review, we analyse what you do and the way that you do it. Our evaluation could identify changes – often only small – which will either make the process compliant with VAT legislation or offer the opportunity for savings and efficiencies.

As well as the onsite work, we can inspect material sent to us by email and work remotely to draw our conclusions and recommendations. We present our findings in a written report and can also offer a presentation of our report and its recommendations to boards, senior management teams or other departments within your organisation.

During a review, if we have identified general VAT saving opportunities, we will recommend a separate exercise to quantify these, and if required, we will handle the claim with HMRC. Alternatively, the review may identify a need for training or misapplication of the VAT law, which will involve liaison with HMRC. Again, this is a service we provide and are happy to facilitate.

How do you charge for your VAT review service?

Ordinarily, the cost of a review will depend upon the hourly rate of the consultants engaged in the exercise. Additionally, you can appoint us on a fixed fee basis: our fee will reflect the size and complexity of the organisation and the nature of the review to be undertaken. However, where a brief or general review leads to a further exercise claiming identified VAT savings from HMRC, then, subject to the level of savings generated, we may be able to subsidise that fee by up to 50% of the sum previously paid for the review.

Our clients regularly engage our VAT review service and value the real benefits it delivers.

MEET THE EXPERTS

Noel Tyler

Executive Chairman

Noel is a highly experienced and innovative consultant who started his career working for HMRC. He has carried out VAT reviews for over 40 years. His extensive knowledge delivers VAT optimisation for our clients.

Andrew Belcher

VAT Consultant

Andy has worked in the tax industry for over 25 years, mainly specialising in the not-for-profit sector.
Andy's experience in developing effective VAT review helps to optimise VAT for our clients.

VAT REVIEW CASE STUDY

A Further Education College asked us to review their VAT operations. The Director of Finance thought that they might be ‘paying too much VAT, or not reclaiming enough’.

We carried out the review and identified savings and, as a result of our report, we entered into a VAT savings exercise for the College. There was a total of eight areas of VAT savings, seven of which were immediately repaid to the College by HMRC.

The eighth area was challenged and resisted by HMRC, although not huge in value; we felt it made salient points of VAT law, which we deemed required further action. Accordingly, we fought and won based on our legal viewpoint, all the way to the European Court and back. Subsequently, our arguments resulted in a complete overhaul of the traditional way in which Further Education Colleges are treated for VAT.