Practice overview:

VAT, GST and other transaction based taxes:

In a global digital world characterised by fast-moving markets with changing business models and the increasing prevalence of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Goods and Services Tax (GST), keeping pace can be a challenge. Combine this with indirect tax becoming many governments' preferred method of revenue raising and increasingly complicated regulations focused on combatting fraud, it’s more critical than ever to manage indirect tax.

Deloitte’s network of indirect tax specialists, including VAT, GST, and global trade advisory (encapsulating customs duties and export controls) personnel, is well informed and understands the nuances of regulations, the importance of deep industry knowledge and the growing importance and role of technology experience.

Highlight your regional network in a few sentences (what’s unique or different):

About Deloitte EMEA indirect tax

Deloitte’s indirect tax practices in EMEA includes approximately 318 offices, with 90 indirect tax partners and more than 1,300 indirect tax professionals. This feeds into a global indirect tax network of more than 2,700 indirect tax professionals, working alongside and together with Deloitte’s other service lines, to bring broad scale tax aligned business compliance solutions. Their stated mission is to deploy the right industry focused local and regional teams quickly to suit the needs of each client.

Key differentiators include: a focus on industry specialism; a cross-border central governance model; and a network of virtual and physical Centres of Excellence (COEs) for indirect tax compliance and global trade advisory. These are aligned with Deloitte’s global technology platforms, offering a wide scope of integrated indirect tax and global trade compliance, consulting, and automation services.

Offerings

  • Indirect Tax advisory including Value Added Tax (VAT) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as other transaction based taxes
  • Indirect Tax compliance and reporting
  • Indirect Tax automation
  • Global Trade Advisory and Compliance (GTA)

Can you speak to the indirect tax growth in your region (why/how it’s affected the business):

Brexit discussions have been driving indirect tax services in the region this year, with companies concerned about the implications on their customs duties and on the simple movement of goods from and to the UK. Deloitte has been assisting clients with potential Brexit impact assessments and we expect more supply chain re-evaluations to verify continued movement of goods in the next months, resulting in substantial growth for our indirect tax practices in the region. Deloitte in EMEA is using technology to disseminate legislation changes quickly and analyse transaction flows accordingly.

In addition to this, we see real-time reporting regulations being introduced in more and more jurisdictions, such as SAF-T, SII (in Spain), as well as e-invoicing and (Data) audits. This requires a complete revision of the way global companies manage and organize their Indirect Tax function. It creates a shift from a “push” (by way of traditional compliance and reporting combined with a tax control framework) to an increased “pull” (tax authorities requiring full relevant indirect tax data set, real-time pulling in the data. This requires tax departments to analyse possible gaps real-time and explain difference between reported VAT and source relevant full VAT data position) type of management. This change is resulting in an increased focus on data and tax technology.

How is your region innovative? Speak of digital capabilities:

Technology
Deloitte EMEA indirect tax practice have combined their technical knowhow with the technology capabilities of Deloitte’s Consulting professionals. This has resulted in tax technology and analytics capabilities.

Global VAT/GST Radar enables companies to rigorously review the quality of their VAT data and assess potential deficiencies in their VAT compliance processes through a provisioned system of predefined checks and balances. The solution automates and streamlines large data files into one central, intuitive dashboard. With this tool, businesses can identify and go on to assess VAT risks and opportunities.

Global Trade Radar uses data sourced from customs authorities to produce detailed insightful analytics across multiple jurisdictions in one dashboard. Opportunities like cost-savings, repayments and risks such as compliance weaknesses are identified and insights summarised through a series of interactive reports.

myInsight Indirect Tax Compliance (ITC) is a compliance technology offering, designed and developed to support centralised delivery of global indirect tax compliance, enabling increased efficiency and quality in the preparation process for indirect tax returns. In addition to its many features, which can be customised, ITC offers a standard reporting package, accessible through a dashboard that provides process and trend analysis information.

PxS is an automated VAT solution assisting partially exempt businesses with VAT analysis and modeling, enabling allocations, sectors, and recovery methods to be easily adjusted based on the impact analysis to the overall VAT position.

Indirect tax Atlas is a tool to help anticipate and manage changes in the taxation of digital services. It is a web-based platform including an interactive map showing where digital rules apply with functionality to compare digital VAT/GST rules across jurisdictions.

Deloitte’s EMEA firms have also expanded their capabilities with the development of Artificial Intelligence and cognitive technologies in the fields of Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification, court case analysis, and other business applications.

Recent wins
  • Managing the indirect tax compliance in 30+ countries
  • Proposing remedial actions for the indirect tax position arising as a result of Brexit for a pharma multinational
Awards
  • In International Tax Review’s (ITR) 2019 European Regional Tax awards, Deloitte won the most number of awards than any other firm, with 17 awards in total.
    • Deloitte won the 2019 European Tax Firm of the Year and the 2019 European Compliance & Reporting Firm of the Year
  • In ITR’s 2018 European Regional Tax awards, Deloitte won the Tax Compliance and Reporting Firm of the Year and the European Tax Firm of the Year.
  • In ITR’s 2017 European Regional Tax awards, Deloitte won more awards than any other firm, with 24 awards in total.
  • As of 2018, Deloitte has more leaders listed in ITR’s Indirect Tax Leaders Guide than any other firm, with 162 leaders.
  • Deloitte has been a Tier 1 tax adviser in the Gulf region since 2010, according to the World Tax rankings.
Leaders
  • Kendra Hann, Deloitte Global Leader - Indirect Tax
  • Fernand Rutten, Deloitte Global Leader - Trade Advisory
  • Johan Hollebeek, Deloitte Global Leader – EMEA Trade Advisory COE
  • Rogier Vanhorick, Deloitte Global Leader - Indirect Tax Digital
  • Olivier Hody, Deloitte Global Leader - Indirect Tax Clients & Industry

Phone: +44 20 7007 3814
Email: khann@deloitte.co.uk
Twitter: @Deloitte
Website: Deloitte.com/tax