The Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany supports eClear’s basic research in the field of tax technology with a non-repayable grant of 4 million euros. Funding is being provided for developing Europe’s largest VAT database, VATRules. VATRules allows fully automated tax rate determination, validation and reporting in the sense of legally compliant processing of any consignment of goods within the European Union.
In eClear’s development achievements, the Federal Republic of Germany recognises the unique position and relevance for the European Economic Area: “A comparable product is not yet available on the market,” says the Bescheinigungsstelle Forschungszulage (BSFZ) in its statement of reasons. The ministry acknowledges that all criteria relevant to research and development are fulfilled, including novelty, risk/unpredictability, and planning capability.
„A comparable product is not yet available on the market.“
All regulations that apply to the determination and application of VAT are recorded in the VATRules database and are continually updated. These include, above all, the individual rules of the European member states. VAT rates are decided at a national level; the same is valid for exceptions and reduced rates. This results in countless country-specific regulations. — An immense challenge for the growing cross-border e-commerce.
VATRules enables merchants to access the current tax rates for EU countries to calculate product prices. An automated mapping process between merchant inventory and database ensures the assignment of correct tax rates for millions of products.
