What is Sovos VAT Filing?
Sovos VAT Filing is a tool to manage your VAT reporting-related tasks in one place.
Import transactions, add your filings, and Sovos will generate monthly return forms for you to file. You can export returns to file manually, or file directly with the tax authorities. You can also track your filing workflow directly in your account and set up notifications so that your team can be informed of return status changes and stay on top of filing tasks.
Check out the complete list of supported countries for more information.
- Workflow tools for teams
- Define steps and assign tasks and due dates.
- Proactive alerts
- Identify and fix issues through validation checks and automated data enhancement rules.
- Audit protection
- View task completion dates, activity logs, comments, and uploaded documents.
How does VAT Filing work?
VAT Filing automatically inserts information for tax returns from transactions already in your Sovos account. For additional flexibility, VAT Filing is supported by several connectors to the most common e-commerce and ERP systems.
Your team can set up a custom filing calendar that creates returns with some prefilled sections every month. In the filing calendar, you can select the applicable returns, filing frequency, filing method, and other options such as assignees. These customizable options provide support for your team's unique needs through the complex process of preparing, reviewing, paying, and filing your tax returns. When a return moves to the next step of the workflow, it is automatically assigned to a predefined team member with an internal due date to ensure that the return is submitted by the required deadline. Reporting tools are also available for managers to spot trends and identify process issues.
Read more about this on the Data Processing and Validation page.
Sovos supports more than 1,000 forms, covering a wide range of industries and jurisdictions. If a form is not supported, Sovos can create custom forms for your business to facilitate analysis and reporting in 208 national and subnational jurisdictions.
Following VAT and SAF-T obligations can be labor-intensive and resource-heavy. Sovos relies on Filing Services that set, run, and manage all VAT Filing routines, guaranteeing all requirements and obligations are met for your company.
Your VAT Filing journey
This topic provides an overview of the VAT Filing process.
- Import invoices
- Start by importing your invoices and transactions on the Invoices page. This creates a record of all your sales. You can edit invoices here as well. You can also import invoices through API or JSON files.
- Check your data and preview VAT amounts
- Check your data by running a reconciliation to verify its accuracy, or preview VAT amounts with the Return Calculator. You can also run a VIES check to validate VAT registration numbers.
- Track returns
- On the Returns page, you can get an overview of each month's returns and the amounts of VAT due and track their status with the Workflow feature. All your team members can stay up to date on the filing tasks they were assigned to by following the returns they are working on. You can also track return statuses on the dashboard or by running a Return Status report.
- File returns
- When you're ready to file, generate the return form with one click, then export for filing or submit directly from the app.
- Modify data and amend return forms
- If there are changes to your invoices, you can edit individual transactions in an already imported invoice to reflect the changes or delete the invoice and import a new one. The corresponding return form will be updated with these changes. You can also amend returns if changes happen after the return has been submitted to the government.
- Reports
- Several reports are available to get an insight into how many returns are on track, at risk, or late, how much VAT is due in specific countries or VAT codes, and more.
- Logs
- Keep track of changes in your account with the Invoice audit trail, the Audit log, the API log, and the FTP log.
Account structure
This topic provides an overview of the hierarchical organization within Sovos VAT Filing that lets you manage tax registrations and VAT obligations effectively.
The foundation level of Sovos VAT Filing is the account, which is the application's primary access point. An account can contain one or more child accounts, companies, and VAT groups. This structure allows organizations to efficiently manage their entities, tax registrations, and VAT obligations across different jurisdictions and subsidiaries
Accounts
There are two types of accounts: Parent and child. The parent account can limit the child account users' access to only the child account's direct filing settings. The users of the child account won't have access to the parent account's settings.
This can be useful for organizations with subsidiaries or distinct business units, or for Sovos partners such as consultancies or agencies that have multiple customers.
Child accounts can't contain other child accounts.
Companies
Every parent or child account can have one or more companies to reflect the way each organization is structured.
Because a company can have operations in different countries, each company can have multiple VAT registrations associated with it. Each VAT registration is identified by a unique tax identification number.
VAT Groups
A VAT group is a collection of companies that consolidate their VAT registrations to file VAT returns as a single entity. Grouping VAT registrations streamlines the submission process and simplifyies the management of VAT obligations across multiple registrations.
The settings for companies and VAT groups are unique to each parent or child account. Therefore, it's not possible to create VAT groups that span across companies from different accounts.