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VATupdate Newsletter Week 02 2023

The perfect VAT strategy

We have been doing VAT for quite some time and in various capacities: advisor, in-house, as interim manager, and as editor. But we have yet to come across the perfect VAT strategy.

Why can’t we make new Stradivari violins?

The VAT rules may change every day, but they also exist already for quite some time. And although there is new interpretations from courts, advisors and inspectors also almost every day, you would think that the key elements and ideas of the VAT rules are more or less clear. So why is it not possible to create that perfect VAT strategy that everyone can use, perhaps with just some minor tweaks and twirls to customize?

As with the Stradivari violin, could it be psychology? It seems to be in human’s nature to not automatically take things for granted, but to always re-invent the wheel. You may know the saying “the grass on the other side of the fence always looks greener”. But perhaps it also works the other way around: “what my neighbour does, can never be as good as what I’m doing”.

Or is it because of marketing? Technology companies or advisors may sell you their perfect product or tool, but before you can use it, it must be customized and adjusted, especially for you. Because your situation or your company is (of course) never the same as all the hundreds of other companies that also use the same tool.

The music from Stradivarius violins is widely considered the gold standard of quality sound. Yet, it’s ‘only’ just a violin, and many people play this instrument. You may hear a difference between cheap and expensive violins, but overall, they sound like a violin. The artist can make a difference in how the instrument sounds, but a violin will never become, for example, a cello.

After countless studies and experiments, perhaps the real magic of a Stradivarius violin lies in how we think about it. And perhaps that’s also the case with VAT: plays with the same instrument, but everyone hears a (slightly) different tone.

All we now is that the VATupdate Team always plays the same tune: VAT.

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas that you want to share with us, please send us an email at [email protected] or leave a comment under the posts of this newsletter on LinkedIn.


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