Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) updated the VAT-registration service, which enables taxpayers to carry out all the operations in the e-Tax/e-Customs environment and automatically receive a response to the registration application.
Each month approximately 950 persons are registered with the national VAT register and circa 600 applications are filed for deletion from the register. The new service makes the VAT registration easier for trustworthy taxpayers and the procedure will become faster as the automatic risk assessment, which is the basis for registration, has been already done before lodging an application.
„A taxpayer with an accurate tax background will receive a VAT number as soon as the application is lodged and desired registration date is indicated,“ explained Triin Raaper, the head of Service department at ETCB. For an operator it saves a lot of time since there is no need to visit a bureau and the VAT number will be received much earlier than before.
However, start-ups have to be prepared to answer some specifying questions, but this can be done in the same comfortable electronic environment. The tax authority also offers consultations for start-ups, so that new taxpayers receive necessary information on the declaration and paying of taxes already upon registration.
In order to get a VAT number you need to enter e-Tax/e-Customs. Then it is necessary to add an authorization „Submitting a VAT identification number application“. A board member has to be authorized as well, and the right of application can also be granted to other persons. „Then the information of the company must be added and after that either the number will be displayed or, if we wish to review the application, you will have to wait for some days,“ Raaper added.
In addition to the registration application the new solution makes it possible to lodge other applications related to the national VAT register, except for the applications for registration or deletion of a VAT group.
The system was developed by the joint tenderers Cybernetica and Icefire. According to the board member of Icefire Vilve Vene it had been an interesting project for a developer, since user-friendliness experts and developers could fully apply their skills and experience with the aim of achieving the simplest possible solution for clients. „Hopefully the life of a taxpayer has become one step easier,“ Vene said.
According to Anu Pedosk, project manager at Cybernetica, the update for the VAT registration process marks another step towards a new generation of e-Tax services. "For Cybernetica, ETCB projects have always been innovative and future-oriented, while setting a clear goal to simplify tax-related operations for all parties. Our long outstanding collaboration with both Icefire and ETCB has yet again proven successful in this project," Pedosk said.