Millions of unclaimed VAT Euros are in store for small businesses across Europe says card company Eurocard as it starts the roll-out of fintech firm Cardlay’s software solution for reclaiming VAT automatically.
In a report by the European Commission, it was found that 80 per cent of all European businesses do not reclaim VAT on purchases made in other EU member states.
Eurocard, operated by bank SEB Kort, is introducing Cardlay’s solution Vattax for reclaiming VAT automatically to small and medium-sized enterprises across the Nordic region to help with the ‘tricky and time-consuming process’.
Vattax has been developed by the Danish fintech in partnership with PwC’s VAT department and launched in Denmark at the end of 2019. More than a quarter of the Danish businesses that use Eurocard’s corporate card and the Eurocard Pro app have adopted the tool. Rolling out the automated VAT reclaim solution to the whole of the Nordics is the next step in the partnership.
They say that small and medium-sized enterprises are missing out or give lower priority to claiming EU VAT refunds due to lack of knowledge and resources.
Cardlay’s founder and CEO Jørgen Chr. Juul, said: “It goes without saying that coronavirus and the significantly lower travel activity have been a massive obstacle to onboarding the number of users of the Vattax solution in the Eurocard Pro app we have the capacity to handle. Having said this, however, we’ve achieved a high market penetration among Danish businesses in spite of the lower travel activity. That’s why we are now launching throughout the Nordic region from the beginning of 2021. This means we’ll be fully prepared for the rebound of business travel in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.”
According to Cardlay, its VAT reclaim solution is the first ever AI-based solution to automatically help small and medium-sized enterprises reclaim foreign VAT, in connection with hotel accommodation, restaurant visits and car rentals within the EU. It claims it takes less than a minute to submit an expense receipt for approval, whether businesses are reclaiming €10 or €1000.
“The amount of money that is potentially at stake, waiting to be reclaimed from all over Europe, is colossal,” adds Jørgen Chr. Juul.
