The recent “VAT Helpline/No VAT Helpline” debacle from HMRC on access to their telephone VAT Helpline illustrates how “stranded” businesses of all sizes can feel when a VAT issue arises that they need to get a better understanding or actual guidance on what to do to resolve it.
As professional Business advisers the response we hear from our clients, when they’ve tried to get hold of HMRC to ask a VAT question – assuming that they’ve been able to make that contact – is they were told to “check the Public Notice”. At Xeinadin we’ve a specialist VAT services team as well as experienced tax and accounting colleagues across the UK and Ireland that can offer tailored VAT support.
Xeinadin has a specialist VAT team because we understand that VAT management is a complex area for many of our clients. They operate in an area where the VAT treatment of their supplies is complicated – that is quite an extensive list, to be honest:
- Food & drink producers trying to understand whether their product is zero rated or not
- Exporters of goods or services
- Builders and property businesses struggling with the VAT rules around the Domestic Reverse Charge on Construction or the new VAT reliefs for the installation of Energy Saving Materials, like solar panels or insulation
- Charities and Not for Profit bodies – missing out on VAT reliefs they could benefit from
- Tour Operators making sure their Margin Scheme calculations are correct
- Financial, Insurance, Healthcare and Education providers – where being in a VAT Exempt environment is always an added complexity
Sometimes businesses are in a situation where a VAT compliance problem has been found. They are worried how best to correct the error to avoid getting further challenges and penalties from HMRC.
At Xeinadin our teams can help take on the day to day of VAT Return completion and submission for you – any of our Xeinadin hubs can help here. Our local teams can also be your first point of contact for specific VAT questions, whether you are an existing client or not, and these colleagues have the added benefit of the support of our specialist VAT Team when as we say: “VAT gets complicated.”
Many of our clients take advantage directly of the services of our VAT specialist team through the support they offer with their VAT Helpline Service. This Helpline service means that you can call or email our VAT specialist team colleagues directly. They will be there to help with advice and technical understanding of the issue – no more – “check the Public Notice” yourself response!
Our VAT Helpline clients pay a fixed fee for an annual VAT Helpline* which gives them peace of mind on costs, as well as that immediate access via the phone or email, to a member of the Xeinadin Indirect Tax team to discuss their VAT concern and how it could be resolved.
As Taxpayers across the UK struggle to contact HMRC when VAT queries arise or, if they succeed, end up feeling insecure about the guidance they received from an HMRC officer, who may have simply followed a crib sheet in a call centre – our Xeinadin Indirect Tax specialist team have a solution. Our VAT helpline service offers you peace of mind – use the contact form below to find out more.
Contact us today
*Terms and conditions apply to VAT helpline usage – this service covers a Helpline support for VAT queries that can be resolved with a 15 min call time to provide an immediate view on whether a point can be resolved within that time scale or needs more detailed research and review. Separate quotations can then be provided should detailed support be required – which includes detailed written commentary. Usage of the Helpline is monitored and Xeinadin reserves the right to remove the Helpline support.
