VAT & Fiscal Representation, shaped by how your goods move.
Trading across Europe creates VAT obligations, with or without a local office in the country. Gaston Schul handles the full picture, from advice and registrations to returns, compliance and fiscal representation, shaped by how your goods move.
Trade across Europe without an office in every country.
Fiscal representation lets a business import and sell in an EU country where it is not established, by appointing a local representative who handles the VAT obligations on its behalf. Done well, it does two things: it removes the need to set up a local entity in each market, and it lets you defer the import VAT at the border instead of paying it upfront and waiting to reclaim it. That keeps your goods moving and your working capital where you need it. (Want the mechanics of import VAT explained? That is what the Trade Intelligence Hub is for.)
VAT ADVICE
VAT advice that knows where your goods are.
Because we sit inside your customs operation, our VAT advice is shaped by how your goods actually move, not given in isolation from them.
VAT advice shaped by how your goods actually move, including the complex flows where standard rules do not apply cleanly. Not generic tax advice.
Structure your European operations for VAT efficiency, including whether you need a local entity at all, before you go live.
VAT, EORI and, where it applies, OSS registrations, secured ahead of go-live.
Account for import VAT instead of paying it at the border, so the cash stays in the business. Available in many markets, with or without fiscal representation.
FISCAL REPRESENTATION
Trade in a market without a company there.
We act as your fiscal representative so you can import and trade where you are not established, and defer the import VAT instead of paying it at the border.
Your own local VAT number, with us as your appointed representative. Full activity covered.
Trade under our VAT number, no registration of your own. Selective, and eligibility checked.
We are your contact for the local authority, and keep your filings correct and on time.
VAT SUPPORT
Your VAT filings, done and on time.
The returns and filings your trade generates, prepared, reconciled and submitted across the markets we cover.
Periodic VAT returns prepared and filed. Domestic, import VAT, reverse charge and corrections.
One Stop Shop returns for your B2C cross-border EU sales, through a single registration.
ESL, Intrastat and SAF-T filings, handled where your trade and the country require them.
One team tracking deadlines and regulatory change across the markets we cover. No adviser per country.
WHY IT PAYS
Import VAT is cash, not just compliance.
Import VAT is often the single largest sum a business pays at the border, and unlike duty, you usually get it back. The question is how long your money is gone before you do.
- Paying import VAT upfront keeps your cash with the tax authority. Pay it at the border and you wait weeks or months to recover it through a return. Deferral lets you account for it instead, so the cash stays in the business. On regular import volumes the difference is significant.
- The wrong setup creates registrations you did not plan for. A change of Incoterm, a new warehouse, or selling to consumers in a new country can trigger a VAT registration you did not expect. We see this catch growing businesses out, after the trade flow has already started.
- A fiscal representative shares your liability, so the quality matters. A fiscal representative is jointly responsible for the VAT it handles on your behalf. That is exactly why it should sit with an established, independent partner that knows the customs and the VAT, not be treated as a box to tick.
- Recoverable VAT goes unclaimed. VAT you were entitled to reclaim, across imports, returns and cross-border supplies, is quietly written off when no one is looking for it. A review regularly finds money that should have come back.
RELATED SERVICES
Where your VAT connects.
Duty Optimisation
Defer and recover import VAT alongside the duty you save, under one fiscal setup.
Customs Clearance
Your declarations and fiscal representation handled by the same team, so the VAT and the customs entry always match.
Authorisations & Licensing
HS optimisation, duty and VAT reviews and FTA qualification, the savings you take to your customers as your own.
Trade Compliance
Keep your VAT returns, registrations and records audit-ready across the markets we cover.
Customs Control Tower
One point of contact and one view of your VAT obligations across the markets we cover.
Customs Technology
Your VAT, declarations and reporting data in one place, ready for returns, OSS and SAF-T.
RELATED NEWS
Customs & Trade. Controlled.
Gaston Schul does more than file a VAT return. We connect it all and run it as one. That is what one full-service operating model gives you, across all your customs and trade in Europe: the clarity to see, the control to govern, and the confidence to decide.
GET IN TOUCH
From VAT questions to clear answers.
Tell us where you import, where you sell, and how your VAT is set up today, and an advisor will tell you what to fix and what it is worth. No obligation, just a clear answer from someone who knows customs.
VAT and fiscal representation FAQs
VAT and fiscal representation: frequently asked questions
Fiscal representation is when a locally established business handles the VAT obligations of a company that is not established in that country, so the company can import and trade there without setting up its own entity. The fiscal representative takes care of the VAT registration, returns and import VAT, and lets you defer the import VAT at the border rather than paying it upfront. Gaston Schul provides fiscal representation in the markets where we offer it, and confirms which applies to you.
It depends on what you are doing in the market. General fiscal representation works under your own local VAT number, with us as your appointed representative, and supports the full range of activity: warehousing, import, and B2B and B2C sales. Limited fiscal representation is lighter: you trade under our VAT number with no local registration of your own, for import followed by immediate B2B resale or movement of your own goods. Which one fits depends on your trade flows and Incoterms, and we confirm your eligibility before setting anything up rather than defaulting you into the wrong one.
It depends on where you are established and what you are doing. Some countries require a non-EU business to appoint a fiscal representative; in others it is optional but still the simpler route, because it avoids setting up and running a local entity. We work out whether you need to register at all, and whether representation is required or just sensible, based on your specific flows.
Import VAT is usually recoverable, but if you pay it at the border you wait to get it back through a VAT return, and that money is gone in the meantime. Fiscal representation lets you defer or account for the import VAT instead of paying it upfront, so on regular import volumes you keep significant working capital in the business rather than parked with the tax authority.
Yes, in part. A fiscal representative is jointly responsible to the authorities for the VAT it handles on your behalf, which is precisely why it should sit with an established, independent partner that knows both the customs and the VAT. It is also why we set things up correctly and keep them current, rather than treating representation as a formality.
Postponed VAT accounting is the UK's mechanism for accounting for import VAT on your VAT return instead of paying it at the border, and it works differently from EU fiscal representation. If the UK is your question, the detail sits in our UK guidance rather than this pan-European page, and an advisor can point you to the right setup.
No. We can act as your fiscal representative and manage your VAT alongside your existing clearance arrangements, or as part of taking on your customs end to end. Either way you keep trading while we put the setup in place.
Yes. Our own teams cover 14 European markets, with an alliance network reaching further, all under one operating model. So your registrations, returns, deferral and reporting run to one standard with one team, instead of a different adviser in every country. If consolidating that is the bigger question, that is our One partner across Europe solution.
Customs consultancy on VAT is expert advice on import VAT, fiscal representation and the VAT consequences of how you trade across borders. The difference is that we advise and execute, and we do it from inside the customs operation: we are your fiscal representative, we file the returns, and we line the VAT up with the customs entries, rather than advising on VAT in isolation from the goods. And we are independent, privately owned, with no parent company over us and no outside shareholders, so the advice serves your position, not a sales target.