Soon, the tax authorities will also be able to see your invoices. Is your company ready?

From periodic VAT returns to near real-time reporting

Today, businesses report their VAT through periodic returns. Invoices are processed in the accounts and then summarised into figures that are submitted to the authorities on a monthly or quarterly basis.

ViDA fundamentally changes that model. Data from invoices will henceforth become available to the authorities much more quickly through standardised digital systems, such as Peppol. The shift is clear: from periodic reporting to transaction-level reporting.

Where the tax authorities today mainly have visibility over totals from the VAT return, tomorrow they will also gain insight into the underlying invoice data. That increases transparency, but also the likelihood that errors will come to light more quickly.

What data will be shared?

The new reporting models cover a broad range of data: VAT numbers of customers and suppliers, invoice amounts and VAT rates, descriptions of goods and services, delivery dates, invoice periods, payment information and more.

Because that information is transmitted in a structured and digital way, the tax authorities can verify, analyse and compare it more quickly. For businesses, this means one thing: data quality becomes crucial.

What does this mean in practice for your company?

For many SMEs, the biggest challenge lies not in sending e-invoices, but in the reliability of the underlying data. Incomplete or incorrect data becomes visible much more quickly in a real-time environment.

As a result, invoicing errors can be detected more quickly by the tax authorities, with an increased risk of questions, corrections or penalties. Spontaneous corrections afterwards will also become less straightforward once the tax authorities have almost immediate access to the underlying invoice information.

As a result, tax becomes more closely intertwined with invoicing, ERP systems and internal processes. Good collaboration between finance, operations and IT is therefore no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

What can you already do today?

Although the obligations surrounding real-time reporting in Belgium will continue to take shape in phases, it is wise to start preparing now. Those who anticipate in time will avoid time pressure, errors and unnecessary risks later on.

Some concrete actions:

• Check the accuracy of your customer and supplier data.
• Assess whether your invoicing system is ready for real-time reporting.
• Review the VAT treatment in your invoices critically for consistency and accuracy.
• Closely monitor developments in e-reporting in Belgium and Europe.

Conclusion

The move to real-time reporting is much more than a technical update. It is a fundamentally different way of reporting to the authorities, in which invoice data becomes visible more quickly and errors can therefore have consequences sooner.

For businesses, this is the ideal moment to critically assess their data, systems and processes. Those who prepare today create peace of mind, avoid surprises and make their organisation ready for the next step in the digitalisation of VAT compliance.

Our PKF BOFIDI experts are here to help

At PKF BOFIDI, our specialists help businesses prepare for e-invoicing and e-reporting in a timely and well-considered way. Do you have questions about the impact on your organisation, or would you like to identify the main points requiring attention? Feel free to contact us. Our experts will be happy to support you with tailored advice and a practical approach.

This article was written by Chiara Saenen.