Outsourcing your VAT return

What it costs

A one-off VAT return costs EUR 65. Processing your records for that period is included. Thirty receipts or three hundred: the price stays the same.

Would you like your bookkeeping and returns taken care of throughout the year? From EUR 89 a month we do your records, every VAT return of the year, the EC Sales List and your income tax return.

All amounts exclude VAT. As a business you get that VAT back.

What you send in

You scan your receipts in the free Valorem app, or you email them. Photos of receipts, PDFs of invoices or a bank export: send it as you receive it. You do not need accounting software.

Sending it in once a quarter is enough. If something is missing, you hear from us well before the deadline.

What often goes wrong when you do it yourself

The mistakes we see most are small, but they can carry on for years:

• A rate once copied from an old quote and never checked again
• VAT on food and drink in restaurants and bars that was deducted when that is not allowed
• Private use of the car missing from the last return of the year
• A reverse charge that no longer applies because the customer moved
• An EC Sales List that does not match box 3b, which puts the zero rate at risk

Watch the deadline too. The return and the payment must both be in within one month after the period ends. These are two separate obligations, each with its own penalty. Filing late costs EUR 82, and EUR 165 if it keeps happening.

When it pays for itself

Work out how many hours a quarter you spend on VAT, and what your own hourly rate is. For most business owners that comes to more than EUR 65.

Then add the time you spend wondering whether it is right. If you find a mistake later, a correction up to EUR 1,000 can go in your next return. If it is more, you file a separate correction and pay interest.