VAT Reporting Is a Data Problem, Not Just a Compliance Problem

• Avalara’s Ben Robinson (17 July 2026) argues that most VAT reporting difficulties stem not from understanding tax rules, but from the data work beforehand—extracting, validating, transforming, and reconciling transactional data across multiple systems before a compliant return can even be prepared across jurisdictions. [avalara.com]
• As businesses add markets, entities, and transaction volumes, VAT reporting becomes harder to scale. ERPs capture transactions, but producing a compliant return is a cross-system workflow; finance teams end up filling gaps by pulling data from one platform, validating in another, and reconciling differences in spreadsheets. [avalara.com]
• Citing a Hobson & Company study, Avalara notes manual data activities—not the VAT rules—became the biggest operational bottleneck. It recommends standardising VAT reporting processes to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, and build a scalable approach to global VAT compliance across country-specific formats. [avalara.com], [avalara.com]

Sources: Avalara · Avalara Returns & Reporting