ADDRESSING business governance and compliance needs, InfoFort, an Aramex company and a leading information management solution provider in the Middle East and Africa, announced Wednesday the launch of VAT Compliance and Automation Solution for the GCC markets.

The GCC-wide value-added tax (VAT) implementation that comes into effect in 2018, impacts how companies manage and deal with their data and information assets, driving companies to establish and seriously reconsider their existing information governance and legal compliance frameworks.

Under the new regulation, companies are likely to face several challenges associated with reporting, records management and audits leading to substantial penalties for non-compliance. Some of these challenges include unavailability of documents when needed, proper retention of records and timely responses to surprise VAT inspections and audits. Furthermore, inadequate VAT management may lead to significant cash outflows, internal costs, tax over-payments, fines, penalties and legal fees.

By adopting the latest technologies, InfoFort’s VAT Compliance and Automation solution will enable companies to be ready to meet legal and compliance obligations, optimize costs, mitigate risks, and avoid unnecessary penalties. The solution aims to seamlessly manage invoice submission, data capture, digital classification, retention and reporting.

Abed Shaheen, CEO of InfoFort, said “once the VAT is officially in place, GCC-based businesses will have to provide essential information as part of the audit exercise. Additionally, they also have to be aware of risks associated with tax evasion or non-compliance of processing large volumes of VAT data that are mandatory for validation during audits. These requirements, now more than ever before, highlight the need to digitize data and automate internal processes as companies will now have to maintain financial and accounting details for five years, which can be a time-consuming and cumbersome process.”

“With data protection, governance and compliance embedded in every process, our solution ensures that that tax legalities and government reporting does not cost you a fortune, hinder your growth, or increase your risk. We simply enable you to focus on your core business and its growth while you remain compliant.”

InfoFort’s solution can be readily integrated within an organization’s accounting module or ERP system and accessed at any time for financial audit exercises, he added. — SG