The consolidated VAT group
- Peter Schöll
With Scopevisio, it's easy to create a VAT group!
Do you use Scopevisio to manage several companies that belong to a VAT group (possibly even across instances)? A few settings are all it takes to conveniently create separate advance VAT returns for each company for the consolidation period and then forward them to the previously defined controlling company. As soon as the tax group parent has received the advance returns of all tax group companies, it submits them together with its own in consolidated form to the tax office - that's it. It could hardly be simpler.
First of all, the respective companies must determine their role as a taxable entity or controlling body and the consolidation period. Accordingly, we describe the steps to be taken separately for each role.
The procedure for the actual advance VAT return also differs depending on the role of the taxable entity and the parent company.
Rights and settings
The controlled company
The rights
In the controlled company, activate the Consolidation settings right under System menu (Scopevisio icon in the top left corner) > System administration > Manage user profiles and rights in the "Finance - all rights" rights profile. Save your settings.
The settings
Go to System menu (Scopevisio icon in the top left corner) > Manage accounting > Company > Consolidation settings. Here you define the period for which the consolidation should apply. An end date is not mandatory. The two upper fields in the controlled company are intended as a kind of safeguard - they can be left blank or filled with the data of the parent company. In this way, you ensure that no company other than the one you have entered here can retrieve your advance VAT returns.
The parent company
The rights
In the parent company, activate the rights Consolidation settings and VAT consolidation under System menu (Scopevisio icon in the top left corner) > System administration > Manage user profiles and rights in the rights profile "Finance - all rights". Save your settings.
Check whether the Client access management/client portal right is activated in the "Contacts - all rights" rights profile - if not, do this now and save.
The settings
Go to System menu (Scopevisio icon in the top left corner) > System administration > Manage accounting > Company > Consolidation settings. Here you define the period for which the consolidation should apply. An end date is not mandatory. Leave the two upper fields blank.
Under Organization > Clients > Client portal you will find an overview of all companies already linked. If the menu item is not visible, please use the function search in the scope field.
Note: If this menu item is not displayed, activate it as follows: Press Ctrl+D to open the direct start form. Enter "feat" here and confirm the offered entry "Feature configuration" with OK. The "Features" form opens. Check the "Client access management" box and save your entry.
If required, add further companies under Organization > Clients > Client portal by clicking on the Add button (1):
Enter the data of the company to be added. The user ID and password are identical to the login data you usually use to log in to this instance (customer number).
Only companies for which you are authorized are suggested as clients.
Save your entries and return to the previous form.
These settings check the rights of the specified user. If the user has been blocked or deleted, please re-establish the link using an active user.
A company that is to be subordinate to the parent company as a body for the consolidation period specified above must be listed here; an active status is not mandatory.
Your own company, which assumes the role of both the parent company and a controlled company at the time of consolidation, must also be included in the list of client accesses.
The same applies to the assigned companies: The sponsoring company must also be created as a corporate body.
Via Finance > VAT: GO declarations: VAT consolidation (2), you can access the Consolidated VAT form.
From here, use the link Assigned companies (3) to go to the form of the same name in GO Meldungen .
Use the Add button (4) to add all the tax group companies belonging to your parent company, including your own.
Only companies listed in the client portal are available for selection here. Save your entries (5).
You can now see all the companies belonging to the tax group in this overview.
The consolidated advance VAT return
Once the companies have been linked together, you can now create the consolidated VAT group return.
It is best to first go to all controlled companies that are not also the controlling company.
The controlled company
After all the settings described above have been made once, the procedure for the advance VAT return for a controlled company does not differ from the standard case.
However, Scopevisio recognizes that the company is a controlled company when a consolidation period is entered and makes the advance VAT return available to the designated controlling company instead of forwarding it directly to the tax office. To do this, click on the corresponding link.
The details of the advance VAT return are shown in the advance VAT return form before they are forwarded to the sponsoring company.
The following form announces the provision of the advance return...
... and then confirms it.
If you close the form, you will see the confirmed status of the provision in the overview of the VAT return.
The sponsoring company collects the data provided in due course without any further action being required on the part of the controlled company.
The sponsoring company
The VAT pre-registration takes place in the sponsoring company in several steps. Before it can submit it to the tax office, it must prepare its own and collect the data provided by the controlled companies in order to then forward them all cumulatively to the tax office. The first two points can take place independently of each other and in no prescribed order. Transmission by the controlling company can only take place once all assigned bodies have provided their data for the transmission period.
In the Finance > VAT form, you can see from the entry in the VAT column whether or from when a VAT group exists if"Provide to tax group parent" is displayed here (1).
Click on this link or on Notifications: Advance VAT return (2), the form Advance VAT return opens in the next but one screenshot.
Under Finances > VAT: GO Messages: VAT consolidation (3), you can access the overview of consolidated advance VAT returns.
In the advance VAT return form, you only calculate the VAT of your own company. As already described in the section on the controlled company, you provide this for the controlling company (your own company in its dual function) (4).
The following form prepares the provision of the advance return...
... and then confirms it.
Close the two previous forms.
Go back to Finances > VAT and use the "VAT consolidation" link to go to the overview of consolidated advance VAT returns. Click on the "Submit to tax office" link for the period you wish to submit.
A form will open showing the companies assigned to the VAT group and the status of their VAT returns.
Click on the"Collect VAT returns" button to collect the VAT returns provided in the tax group companies.
You will see the reporting amount (1), the status of the collected VAT returns (2) and the advance returns are displayed cumulatively in the next step (3).
From this view, you now forward the VAT return to the tax office as described here for a regular, non-consolidated VAT return:
Submit with a software certificate, enter your data (1) and then submit by clicking on the button with the same name (2).
Scopevisio will confirm the successful transmission of your consolidated advance VAT return. You can then close the forms.