reflects
the increased emphasis placed by HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) on compliance and represents a significant move
away from the traditional VAT services
currently being offered to the NHS. The benefits of using
are:-
-
Full compliance every return period instead of annual compliance checks;
-
A monthly or quarterly review of your trading activities instead of annually. This allows us the opportunity to use our expertise and advise you on possible changes to VAT liabilities which can have a dramatic effect on your recovery levels;
-
VAT is validated in the correct time, form and manner, therefore removing one of the concerns that can arise from a visit by HMRC;
-
The Trust’s Monthly Cash flow can be maximised and financial planning can be more accurate;
-
VAT Liaison becomes responsible for ensuring that the correct figures are recorded on your VAT Return. In the past Advisors have not followed through to this degree and often additional recovery identified during a refund direction review never made it on to the Return;
-
An NHS Trust can learn much quicker as the validation exercise will occur more frequently.
VAT planning opportunities are often lost because the schemes/contracts pass unnoticed until it is too late and the submission dates for correspondence to HMRC are missed. Therefore, as part of the monthly visits, in addition to Finance, we would meet with the different departments who are affected by VAT, such as Estates and Supplies, to find out future plans for the months and years ahead.