MasterCard Worldwide has been certified by the Irish Tax Authorities to offer simplified Value Added Tax (VAT) invoice reporting through its Purchasing Card programme.
This agreement will enable Irish companies of all sizes to streamline their VAT reclamation process using MasterCard Smart Data OnLine (SDOL) or MasterCard smartdata.gen2, the latest advancement in MasterCard's portfolio of web-based expense and information management solutions.
When making purchases at a merchant with a MasterCard Purchasing Card, invoice data flows electronically to a company with the data automatically including VAT information. To recover VAT from the tax authorities, a company using Smart Data reporting solutions can view and print-out a detailed and comprehensive report containing all invoice data, thereby significantly simplifying their VAT reclamation process compared with having to manually track and maintain all purchasing records.
The certification by the Irish Tax authorities enables MasterCard issuing banks to seamlessly provide a simplified VAT recovery solution to their customers. Financial institutions benefit from an easier workflow in addition to increased efficiencies. When using invoice reporting via Smart Data reporting solutions, financial institutions no longer have to exchange individual files with customers or print paper forms, resulting in the elimination of inefficient processes and freeing up valuable resources.
"Today, it costs companies on average up to around 10 €(Forrester Research, 2007) to process and settle a single supplier invoice. By enabling simplified VAT recovery for Purchasing Card purchases made in Ireland, MasterCard once again demonstrates its commitment to help optimise commercial programmes by providing integrated information and reporting solutions in a manner that drives efficiency and transparency. With our best-in-class Smart Data reporting solutions, companies and public organisations gain the insights needed to not only negotiate better deals with suppliers but also save time and money", said Brian Lang, Vice President, Commercial Products, MasterCard Europe.
MasterCard Smart Data reporting solutions are the industry standards for commercial card reporting across all segments and products, facilitating the information management strategy of over 140,000 customers worldwide. Flexible and robust, companies use the web-based reporting application to consolidate, analyse, and manage financial data from MasterCard commercial card programmes. It offers both local and centralised reporting and is compatible with widely used expense management and ERP systems such as Oracle, SAP and Concur. Its unsurpassed reporting capabilities enable simplified VAT recovery to become a reality for corporations across Europe. To date, MasterCard has received VAT certification of its Purchasing Card product in nine European countries, besides Ireland also in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway.