As governments move more aggressively to close the tax gap and create alignment between their tax administrations and businesses through digitization, data has become a central theme for organizations and overseers alike.
Driven by a set of diverse and accelerating mandates, businesses are being forced to adjust their systems and processes to provide unprecedented levels of data access. Tax is no longer at the back end of the process – but an issue that must be solved often in real-time.
In response, businesses are moving tax controls much closer to the operation allowing tax administrations to also respond to anomalies in near-real-time. This means that data quality becomes an operational imperative as opposed to the former legacy world of slow-moving periodic summary reports where many smaller errors or inaccuracies would go unnoticed.
To help shed additional light on how governments and businesses are approaching today’s new realities of tax administration and data quality we gathered three of the foremost expert voices in the world to discuss several of these topics and offer commentary on likely actions and possible solutions. Our lineup consisted of Kathya Capote Peimbert, Tax Managing Director, KPMG; Vinicius Pimentel de Freitas – CIAT, CTO, Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations; Christiaan Van Der Valk- Sovos VP, Strategy and Regulatory, Sovos. The following podcasts are the first in a series of excerpts from their inspired discussions.
Why alignment between your data and the tax administration is critical.
Kathya Capote Peimbert
Tax Managing Director, KPMG
Vinicius Pimentel de Freitas
CIAT, CTO, Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations
Christiaan Van Der Valk
Sovos VP, Strategy and Regulatory, Sovos
Do the tax authorities know more about your business than you do?
Kathya Capote Peimbert
Tax Managing Director, KPMG
Vinicius Pimentel de Freitas
CIAT, CTO, Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations
Christiaan Van Der Valk
Sovos VP, Strategy and Regulatory, Sovos
Having a strategic plan for compliance has never been more important
Kathya Capote Peimbert
Tax Managing Director, KPMG
Vinicius Pimentel de Freitas
CIAT, CTO, Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations
Christiaan Van Der Valk
Sovos VP, Strategy and Regulatory, Sovos
The Sovos Partner Focus Series provides detailed advice from our alliances team on the best ways to partner with Sovos. You can also find analysis of urgent tax matters by some of the world’s most renowned tax and regulatory experts. We know your time is precious so our audiocasts summarize the critical information you need in a quick and easy to understand format. Let Sovos take care of the details so you don’t have to.
In our first episode of our Sovos Partner: Five Minute Focus Series Wendy Francis sits down with Marc Hobell, VP of EMEA Sales, to discover how easy it is to partner with Sovos and the benefits that could be available to our partners in doing so.
In our new episode of the Sovos Partner: Five Minute Focus Series Wendy Francis discusses upcoming changes to invoice compliance in Eastern Europe with Petter Karlsson of the EMEA Alliances Team. Listen in to find out how the changes will affect your customers and how to help them.
Why are so many organizations leveraging the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) Model 1 program to help reduce the cost, effort and risk associated with sales tax compliance? SST offers a path to manageable, affordable and accurate compliance through technology providers that have been rigorously tested and certified by the 24 SST member states.
Sovos is one of four certified service providers (CSPs) certified by the SST Governing Board, offering clients completely accurate sales tax rates and simplified filing through our Model 1 program. We help businesses comply with each jurisdiction’s sales tax laws, allowing organizations to outsource most CSP compliance responsibilities.
The Model 1 program can be greatly beneficial to taxpayers who do not have people or property in states, but may have registered (or who need to register) under the economic nexus requirements that have cropped up across the U.S. over the last several years. With Sovos as your CSP, economic nexus taxpayers are fully supported in their sales tax function all the way through filing and remittance. It is done in a cost-effective way that limits your audit exposure.
Furthermore, Sovos would be responsible for monitoring rate and rule changes, accounting for those changes before they become effective, calculating tax correctly on your sales and timely filing and remitting.
Sovos provides direct support to the product taxability mapping exercise, assigning each seller a dedicated Managed Services tax preparer and we prioritize any technical support questions. Additionally, when audits do arise, Sovos serves as the main point of contact and takes much of the responsibility for potential penalties.
Specifically, Sovos products and services include the following:
Global Tax Determination – Our cloud solution has always-on capabilities, empowering your business with real-time tax calculations.
Sovos Filing – Streamline your filing responsibilities, regardless of the size of your business, with our intuitive software tools.
Filing Managed Services – Remove the sales tax filing burden by outsourcing to our experts who are knowledgeable on the latest filing requirements and form changes.
Sovos’ CertManager exemption certificate tools are also a critical tool for our Model 1 customers working with exempt customers. CertManager allows businesses to store and validate exemption certificates in real time, with the ability to fully automate the process through the Sovos Managed Services team.
Through the Sovos’ Model 1 program, your CSP would be responsible for monitoring rate and rule changes, accounting for those changes before they become effective, calculating tax correctly on your sales, and for timely filing and remitting. The cost is mainly absorbed by compensation Sovos receives directly from the states, helping to keep compliance affordable.
The digitization and increasing complexity of sales and use tax has necessitated that most organizations rethink their approach to sales tax and compliance management. Rapidly changing regulatory guidelines and tax laws have made manual processes obsolete and have greatly increased the burden on internal tax teams to get things right.
For many, managing this new level of sales tax complexity means integrating tax with their SAP solutions in order centralize operations and create efficiencies of scale. Already a platform fixture for most companies, SAP solutions allow companies to build a tax first structure that ensures that all regulatory changes are accounted for and updated automatically. This greatly enhances defenses against audits and resulting financial penalties and damage to company reputation.
Sovos helps organizations using SAP solutions drive their digital transformation and centralization initiatives forward. With more than 20 years of SAP experience and hundreds of SAP customers, Sovos has certified integrations for ECC and all S/4HANA deployment models (premise, private cloud and public cloud). Sovos’ Global Tax Determination solution has also achieved SAP certification as integrated with SAP S/4HANA® Cloud, as part of the “Co-Innovated with SAP” program.
Centralizing sales tax in the cloud with Sovos ensures that clients always have the most up-to-date rates and rules. You also have the flexibility to leverage our SAP certified adapters and/or our simple API connections to calculate tax accurately in numerous ways, based on your own unique mix of technologies and business processes.
In addition, clients can realize the benefits of a fully integrated exemption certificate management solution. This allows you to easily capture, consolidate and manage all customer exemptions as part of an integrated workflow. Save time and improve accuracy, ensuring the presence of a current/accurate certificate drives an exemption in the tax engine.
Finally, when it comes to sales tax, the ability to take all transaction data and correctly report it is critical. Sovos’ reporting feature enhances visibility to manage all associated return data and streamline the filing process, with the capability to submit returns electronically where available.
Remember, when integrating new SAP solutions, it’s important to consider tax early in the process. This will help to ensure that work doesn’t have to be repeated or work arounds created and both tax and IT save valuable time and resources and ensure alignment between the two groups.
With Sovos and SAP, businesses can face the future of sales and use tax with confidence. Watch our video and then connect with our experts for more information on how Sovos can help you solve your sales tax management issues.
The Sovos expert series provides detailed analysis of urgent tax matters by some of the world’s most renowned tax and regulatory experts. Our audiocasts summarize the critical information you need to know in a quick, easy to understand forum. If you need to know it, Sovos has you covered.
In Insurance Premium Tax, one of the key factors of establishing the appropriate premium is determining the Location of Risk. When dealing with complex insurance policies, this requirement can lead to complications such as penalties and double taxation. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Anita Blanusic asks James Brown, IPT Consultant to discuss Location of Risk for marine insurance, as well as details around how it’s determined, and recent updates.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Cécile Dessy sits down with Russell Hughes, Consulting Services Manager at Sovos, to explain how the EU E-commerce VAT Package have evolved during this first year.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Tim Roden sits down with Rachel Hoffmann to discuss how his 20 years in the Fintech industry prepared him for his current role as Solution Principal of Sales and Use Tax at Sovos.
With Latin America and Europe seeing considerable success adopting a global digitization approach, Tim Roden talks about how the United States will likely follow suit in the next few years.
Sovos recently released their annual Sales and Use Tax Pressure Index where they surveyed 250 individuals who are responsible for sales tax management at their organization. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Tim Roden discusses the most eye-opening stats from the 2022 Pressure Index.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Nina Fleming tells Rachel Hoffman how her past work in marketing and sales prepared her for her current role as the VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sovos.
We sat down with Nina Fleming, Vice President of DE&I at Sovos, to discuss the importance of having a diverse executive team leading an organization.
Sovos recently added a sixth core value, Be Inclusive. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, our VP of DE&I, Nina Fleming, discusses what this means for the future of the company.
Goods in transit insurance is a very common type of insurance that is provided by insurers to policyholders to cover them for what can happen to property or goods that are being moved from one place to another in the course of their business. As these insurance policies can be covering goods of a high value, commonly they are taken out with a panel of insurers as co-insurance and applying the correct locations of risk and taxing the policies can be problematic.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Rebecca Burton asks Christiaan Van Der Valk, VP Strategy and Regulatory to explain how the four mega-trends in VAT digitization are evolving, how tax authorities are moving towards ‘always-on’ enforcement, and how organisations can use this transformation to their benefit.
Romania’s new SAF-T mandate was implemented for large taxpayers on 1 January 2022. Following the release of specifications in 2021 and subsequent testing phase, information must now be submitted digitally via the prescribed format.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Rebecca Burton asks Kelsey O’Gorman, Senior Regulatory Counsel to explain what this means in practice for organisations and how they can avoid any compliance issues.
At Sovos, our consultants are the leading experts in cross-border tax, saving both time and money for our customers. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Becca Taylor sits down with Russell Hughes, Consulting Services Manager at Sovos to explore what our consultancy team do and how they can work with your current processes and teams to improve your VAT compliance.
Italy first introduced its e-invoicing mandate in 2019 and in 2022 they are introducing a new continuous transaction control obligation for reporting cross-border invoice data. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Harri Vivian sits down with Gabriel Pezzato, Senior Regulatory Counsel at Sovos to talk through the 2022 reporting changes coming in Italy.
After a tumultuous 18 months due to COVID-19, the events industry is finally bouncing back. When organising events online and in-person it is important to understand the VAT implications to avoid incurring fines and penalties down the line.
In this episode, Mathilde Dorance, Consultant at Sovos discusses the VAT implications for the events industry and the challenges they can bring for your company.
Having originated in Latin America, the next region set to embrace continuous transaction controls is Asia. Several jurisdictions in the region have announced their intent to introduce a new invoicing system as soon as possible. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Harri Vivian sits down with Victor Duarte, Senior Regulatory Counsel at Sovos to talk through the upcoming changes in the region, taking a close look at the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) is here. Since July 2021, businesses selling imported goods in the EU valued at less than EUR 150 can now use IOSS to collect, declare and pay VAT to the local tax authorities in one single return. In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Alex Smith, Director of Consulting Services, guides you through the essentials of the new scheme and what your businesses should be considering.
Over the past year supply chains have taken a significant hit with the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit to name a few. It is essential to start putting a plan in place to recover and protect your supply chains and reclaim control.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Becca Taylor sits down with Andy Spencer, Director of Consulting Services at Sovos to explain how your business can protect their supply chain and carry out effective supply chain reviews.
Incoterms are set by the International Chamber of Commerce and outline the responsibilities of buyers and sellers while making international transactions. Understanding the relationship between VAT and Incoterms now can prevent costs and delivery delays down the road.
In this episode of the Sovos Expert Series, Becca Taylor sits down with Andy Spencer, Director of Consulting Services at Sovos to explain how your business can overcome the challenges that incoterms provide.
We sat down with Selin Ring, Regulatory Counsel at Sovos, to discuss Saudi Arabia’s upcoming e-invoicing mandate. The new regulations will be introduced 4 December 2021 and signal the beginning of continuous transaction controls, or CTCs, in the Gulf region.
The EU E-commerce VAT package is due to come into effect on 1st July 2021 with changes affecting businesses that trade in the EU. The changes are designed to simplify cross border transactions and keep continuity within VAT reporting.
Although these are simplifications, it can be difficult to determine which will benefit your business without proper knowledge of the package on offer. It is crucial for a business to assess their position and therefore decide if they need to implement any of the EU E-commerce VAT package.
Although Brazil is known for its complex tax laws that make compliance a difficult task in the country, it is undeniable that the Continuous Transaction Control (CTC) system implemented more than a decade ago is one of the most stable in the world.
However, even a sophisticated CTC system continues to evolve and mature, and as a result legal changes and technical updates happen quite often in Brazil. In December 2020 the Brazilian tax authorities changed the premise for cancellation and correction of NF-es and buyer’s responses.
We sat down with Selin Ring, regulatory counsel at Sovos, to get a clear understanding of South Korean e-invoicing obligations. The system, which was first introduced in 2011, contains both an e-invoicing mandate and a real time reporting mandate.
We sat with down with Sovos’ Anna Norden, principal, regulatory affairs, to discuss Poland’s new e-invoicing law. The new law is due to go into effect in October 2021 and will introduce e-invoicing via a national platform in a Continuous Transaction Control system.
We sat with down with Sovos’ Anna Norden, principal, regulatory affairs to discuss France’s upcoming move to Continuous Transaction Controls. The changes are scheduled to debut in 2023 and introduce mandatory e-invoicing clearance and e-reporting.
Nous nous sommes entretenus avec Jean-Cyril Schütterlé, Directeur Ecosystème chez Sovos, à propos du prochain passage de la France au contrôle continu des transactions. Les nouvelles règles devraient rendre obligatoires, d’ici 2023, la dématérialisation fiscale des factures B2B avec approbation préalable (clearance) ainsi que l’émission d’un reporting électronique.
We sat down with Christiaan Van Der Valk, VP of strategy at Sovos, to discuss the 12th edition of the Sovos Trends in Continuous Global VAT Compliance report to find out more about the focus and key trends of this year’s report.
In the second and final discussion of the 12th edition of the Sovos Trends in Continuous VAT Compliance Report, we sat down with Christiaan Van Der Valk, VP of strategy at Sovos to discuss the increasingly complex tax landscape and how 2020 could affect tax laws in the coming years.
We sat down with Andy Spencer, director of consulting services at Sovos, to discuss the VAT implications of Brexit for organisations doing business in the UK and the European Union.
We sat down with Selin Adler Ring, regulatory counsel at Sovos, to discuss the Turkey e-delivery note and its impact on multinational organisations. Selin explains the new system, also known as the e-waybill, and the details of the mandate in Turkey.
We sat down with Filippa Jörnstedt, manager of regulatory analysis and design at Sovos, to discuss why e-archiving should be a critical part of a businesses’ e-invoicing strategy. E-archiving requirements change across jurisdictions and are becoming increasingly important as tax authorities digitise their systems.
We sat down with Selin Adler Ring, regulatory counsel at Sovos, to discuss the upcoming changes to India’s e-invoicing system and its potential impacts on business. The mandate will be rolled out over the coming year and will eventually cover all businesses
Sales tax continues to grow in complexity which has expanded its organizational impact beyond the purview of just tax and finance departments. To effectively manage sales tax obligations in this new era of modern tax requires a partnership between IT and tax to ensure the proper systems and technology is in place to account for the multitude of regulatory changes taking place on a near daily basis. In this video, we explain how an effective sales tax solution should account for the nuances of your individual business and how it should seamlessly integrate with your existing technology.
Ensuring that your business is compliant with all state, county and local sales tax ordinances and nexus laws is not a nice to have, it’s an essential part of operating a successful business to lower your financial risk and potential for audits and damage to company reputation.
There are a number of tax software products that claim to make compliance easier, but you need to understand how adding new technology to your ecosystem will impact day to day operations. If new software is making life harder or adversely impacting other areas of the business, you have not succeeded in solving your sales tax management problem.
Many sales tax software implementations fail to meet the desired result because they don’t account for the unique challenges of your business. An out of the box, one size fits all sales tax solution sounds great in theory, but if it doesn’t address the challenges your are trying to solve it’s just another layer of IT complexity that needs to be managed.
If you are currently considering a tax software solution to help alleviate your compliance burden, here are three things to consider.
First, no two organizations are exactly alike, and all have their own unique problems and challenges, especially when it comes to tax compliance. Your solution should have a plan to account for these.
Two, how will your new tax software integrate with your existing architecture. You are looking to solve a specific set of sales tax compliance problems, not restructure your entire technology platform in the process.
Third, the end goal it to reduce the risk of audit and financial penalty by ensuring accuracy in your sales tax process. Don’t be distracted by other, non-essential features.
At Sovos, we will take the time to understand the nuances of your business and provide solutions uniquely qualified to solve your most pressing tax compliance issues.
We offer solutions and services with the flexibility to meet your most essential sales tax compliance needs and our hands-on approach ensures that you experience the benefits of our solutions quicker, with less time and resources required during the implementation phase.
Cloud solutions provide on-demand computing that don’t require active management by the user. However, assuming that all clouds are created equal is a mistake that will cost your business. If you are ready to solve your sales tax issues by harnessing the power of the cloud, be sure to understand the four critical pillars of cloud performance. These represent the difference between a complete solution and just another empty promise.
Your cloud solution isn’t valuable if it isn’t available. Sovos’ cloud platform operates in a robust, purpose-built data center, with a second, equally equipped data center on hot standby, which means planned maintenance is conducted without impact to your response time or uptime and the rare occurrence of unplanned failover can be executed within minutes. Sovos is committed to continued investment in the future of the cloud. If there is a better cloud to be built, Sovos will lead the way.
The ability of your cloud to expand and grow along with your business should be your primary consideration. If your growth is inhibited by the capacity of your current cloud solution to keep pace, you are doing yourself a disservice. We ensure consistently quick response times to calculation requests, even in the most demanding time periods and business conditions. Our Global Tax Determination Cloud scales horizontally to handle unlimited transaction volume.
Your cloud needs to adapt to the demands of your business, not the other way around. We deliver certified integrations, modern APIs, batch processing and localized calculation options all to make your life easier. Sovos is the team and technology you can count on to ensure future success. We’ve been there before, and we deliver.
Your cloud contains your most sensitive company data. You need to ensure that it is always protected. Our baseline security measures include: SSAE 16 audited data center utilization; comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery plans and advanced encryption technology ensuring data security from transmission to encryption within the Sovos Intelligent Compliance Cloud environment.
As you can see, there is more to having an effective cloud-based tax solution than just selecting a cloud vendor. There are major differences in the options available on the market and it pays to do your research ahead of time. If not, you will be paying later, and that cost is far more expensive.
Moving tax to the cloud is the right call, just make sure you select a partner that can meet the demands of your organization. Make sure you talk to Sovos.
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