Interesting comments from Ryan Carson of Carsonified in response to questions regarding hidden challenges lurking in global business via the excellent Duct Tape Marketing. He singled out dealing with VAT as one of the single biggest challenges in growing his UK training business to become a global player commenting:
- Image via CrunchBase
The laws surrounding tax here aren’t written for the Internet age and don’t really make any sense. It was tough getting a straight answer from the tax man about who we needed to charge tax to and how much. Nightmare!
So true. Yet there have been further changes to VAT introduced this year to add to the confusion and administration. ‘Place of supply’ rules for VAT and determining which services are standard-rated, zero-rated, exempt etc are all routine causes for concern for UK businesses – such issues cause much head-scratching for many accountants let alone business-owners.
We need to simplify VAT administration for UK businesses especially when much of it comprises unpaid form-filling for the government e.g. EC Sales List, Intrastat etc let alone unpaid tax collection! And don’t get me started on the ‘reverse charge mechanism’!
Ryan Carson wisely sums up his advice for UK businesses looking to expand beyond UK shores by saying:
Call your accountant and check tax laws. It’s tough, but once you figure it out, it’s a huge new opportunity to grow your business. Just do it.
Expanding overseas is a minefield for the unwary with rules and regulations above and beyond VAT to contend with, however, by following Ryan’s advice in the above order a supportive professional accountant should be able to walk you through the process. Better to invest a little upfront and get it right, rather than have to unpick a series of potentially expensive cock-ups further down the line.
P.S. Get ready for the change in standard rate VAT from 17.5% to 20% from 4 January 2011.
Related articles
- Hidden Challenges Lurking in Global Business (ducttapemarketing.com)
