VAT services
VAT impacts pricing, invoicing, and cash flow—especially for cross-border trade. Mistakes can be expensive: late registration, incorrect rates, missing EU reports, and input VAT errors that lead to repayments and authority attention.
Oceans provides full-cycle VAT services from initial assessment and registration to ongoing VAT return preparation, EU reporting, and compliance monitoring. We keep VAT treatment consistent with how you actually operate and ensure documentation supports VAT recovery.
The process is built around control: clean invoice discipline, structured data intake, reconciliation checks, and a clear audit trail for each VAT period.
What’s included
✔️ VAT obligation assessment (local and cross-border) and registration approach selection
✔️ VAT registration package preparation and submission coordination
✔️ VAT return preparation and filing (monthly/ quarterly as applicable)
✔️ EU VAT reporting support: EC Sales Lists and Intrastat (where required)
✔️ VAT compliance reviews: rate checks, invoice requirements, input VAT eligibility reviews
✔️ Authority communication and clarifications: responses, confirmations and follow-ups
✔️ VAT documentation discipline: evidence packs per period (invoices, exports, reconciliations)
✔️ Optional: process improvements to reduce errors (invoice templates, data checklists, automation opportunities)
What we need from you
✔️ Company details and description of business activity (what you sell, where, and how)
✔️ Sales and purchase invoices (or invoicing exports) and the VAT treatment used today
✔️ Bank and transaction data for reconciliation and support evidence
✔️ Cross-border transaction details (EU customers/suppliers, imports/exports, marketplaces)
✔️ Access to accounting exports or system reports used for VAT calculations
✔️ Internal owner for approvals and timely invoice/document submission
How it works
1. Assess VAT triggers and risks: map activity and decide whether registration is required.
2. Register or onboard: prepare registration or set up the ongoing VAT workflow.
3. Collect data: gather invoice data, exports and evidence in a structured checklist-driven process.
4. Prepare returns: calculate VAT, validate treatments and reconcile to accounting totals.
5. File and confirm: submit returns, store confirmations and maintain the period archive.
6. Monitor and improve: track common errors and tighten invoice discipline to reduce risk over time.
Typical timeline
VAT registration: typically 1–3 weeks depending on documentation and authority processing.
Ongoing VAT returns: prepared and filed monthly or quarterly depending on obligation.
Compliance review (optional): 1–2 weeks for a focused review of key VAT risk areas.
Common pitfalls we prevent
✔️ Late VAT registration leading to penalties and retroactive reporting
✔️ Incorrect VAT rates or wrong place-of-supply assumptions for cross-border services
✔️ Missing EC Sales Lists/Intrastat, creating compliance gaps and authority questions
✔️ Input VAT claimed without proper invoice evidence or eligibility checks
✔️ VAT returns not reconciled to accounting, causing mismatches and rework
✔️ Weak invoice discipline (missing VAT IDs, wrong wording), which blocks VAT recovery
FAQs
Find answers to common questions!
It depends on your turnover thresholds and transaction types. We assess this based on your activity and advise the correct approach.
Yes. VAT services are fully manageable remotely with structured data exchange and secure archiving.