International VAT Management Consultants
VAT rules can be highly complex, especially for businesses that operate across many jurisdictions, and the price of getting it wrong can be extremely high. But getting clear, reliable advice can also be a struggle.
Our core team at Essentia consists of highly experienced individuals who have been both providers and consumers of VAT advice during their careers. We have regularly come across advice that is noncommittal, unclear, impractical or is simply a straight quote from the law. Good advice should be easily understood and implemented. Too often this is not the case. Our ambition to offer something better than this was one of the key drivers in establishing our firm and as such VAT consultancy lies at the heart of our service portfolio.
We view VAT in terms of costs and obligations to be effectively managed. If you come to us for advice we will always tell you what we really think, in a manner that is clear and simple. We will never charge you for advice you can’t understand because we think that’s not good advice.
Typical VAT management consultancy services that we provide include:
- VAT risk, cost and/or process reviews
- Support in deciding VAT liabilities and place of taxation rules
- “One off” transactional VAT support, e.g. with respect to mergers and acquisitions
- VAT impact assessments for new products and supply chains
- VAT help line services
One area we do not involve ourselves with, however, is aggressive tax avoidance and the use of so-called “schemes”. We focus on practical, ethical advice to help ensure proper compliance and fair cost management and carefully guard our reputation with tax authorities so that we can be effective advocates for our clients when this is needed. We think this, rather than schemes, is what most businesses want.