Why specialized tax advice is so important in online business

We have reason to celebrate because our tax consultant network was launched a year ago. This means that many of you have been able to leave the tiresome topic of taxes in the hands of experts with a clear conscience over the past year. Because in our network you will find exactly the tax support you need for your online business!

The tax consultant network now comprises 28 law firms from Germany and Austria. One of them is the eCommerce tax consultancy GTK Kröger. Since joining the network, they have successfully advised many JTL customers on tax law. They know exactly what the most common pitfalls are for online retailers and what problems the right advice can protect you from.

It's a match! Your partner in tax law

Finding the perfect partner is anything but easy – but particularly important when it comes to the complex subject of taxes. After all, you definitely want to avoid the tax office responding to your tax return with a complaint. And missed savings and optimization opportunities are annoying, but above all avoidable. Because there are tax consultants who specialize in precisely the topics that are relevant to you and your business. Instead of wandering through the Google jungle, our network of tax consultants offers you a selection of law firms that are well versed in the intricacies of online business. At the same time, you can be sure that the law firms listed in the network can read and process data from JTL-Wawi.

The tax firm GTK Kröger is one of the leading eCommerce tax firms in Germany. From their day-to-day practice, the experts know how important it is for online retailers to have properly conducted financial accounting in order to avoid difficulties with the tax office from the outset.

Thanks to JTL’s network of tax consultants, many merchants have already found their way to us and we have successfully saved them from difficulties with the tax authorities.

First aid for online retailers

Many online retailers begin as start-ups and initially seek advice from the tax consultant “around the corner” without paying attention to their individual industry knowledge. However, the higher the turnover, the more complex and complicated financial accounting becomes, requiring more and more specific expertise. Multichannel and cross-border trade in particular place extensive accounting and tax requirements on online retailers. This is where experts such as the consultants at the tax firm GTK Kröger come into play: “We regularly provide ‘first aid’ to online retailers that have grown significantly and whose accounting structure has not been able to keep pace with their growth,” says tax consultant Kai Kröger.

Another common problem is that payment reconciliation does not work properly. With their extensive knowledge of upstream systems such as JTL-Wawi, the experts reconcile the debtors on a monthly basis to avoid an excessively high receivables balance. Kröger reports: “In one case of a recently acquired mandate, the receivables had to be corrected by 600,000 euros. This was due to missing refunds and returns. This was not an isolated case, but something we encounter frequently in our daily practice!”

Pitfalls with OSS and VAT

In 2021, the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) procedure was introduced as an amendment to the VAT Act, which was intended to simplify intra-European trade. At the same time, however, new potential pitfalls have been added. Traders must now ensure that sales are not reported twice by means of well-structured accounting – via the OSS and also in the national VAT returns. In addition, the national delivery threshold problem remains due to the long retroactive period.

In the area of VAT, a common problem is that national tax rates are incorrectly entered into the ERP or cross-border trade is started without first obtaining tax advice. Kröger advises: “Every online retailer who makes long-term use of foreign sales platforms should register for the OSS procedure. This is because the new EU-wide delivery threshold of 10,000 euros is quickly exceeded, even for smaller retailers.” Registrations abroad now only need to be made for the storage countries, e.g. as part of the Amazon PAN-EU program. Nevertheless, these registrations still require expert tax advice.

JTL-Wawi 1.6 creates structure in financial accounting

Good organization is the be-all and end-all for multichannel companies. The more complex your online business becomes and the more sales platforms you use, the more automation and digitalization make sense. Professional advice on process optimization and innovative ERP and multichannel systems go hand in hand here. JTL-Wawi 1.6, the latest version of our ERP, offers the best conditions for this: “With Wawi 1.6, for example, a partial invoice can be created as soon as the first parts of the order have been shipped. Especially in view of the current supply bottlenecks, there are cases where the missing goods can only be delivered months later. Using the partial invoices, proper financial accounting is now possible, in which sales are shown promptly after they have been realized,” says Kröger.

Find specialists now with the JTL tax consultant network

In addition to the industry-specific requirements of eCommerce, every online retailer naturally also has very individual needs, which in turn require suitable solutions. It is worth taking a closer look at the range of services offered by the respective tax firm. GTK Kröger’s consulting topics include the special requirements of financial accounting for Amazon sellers and multichannel.

JTL has created the tax consultant network for a targeted search for the right experts. Here you will only find renowned partners who have been tested by us, who have the necessary specialist knowledge in eCommerce and are also very familiar with JTL-Wawi. Find the tax consultancy you need now!