Small business network Enterprise Nation has teamed up with Coadec and KPMG to host a hackathon aimed at building a digital solution for the issues created by January’s EU VAT changes.
“As a digital business we were disappointed with the introduction of VAT MOSS earlier this year,” said Adam Ball, general manager of freelance developer platform Coding Cupboard.
“The change has meant that small and micro businesses, like our own, face the choice of not selling to Europe or completely overhauling systems to accommodate the changes made by HMRC. That’s why we’re proud to be involved with Enterprise Nation’s Hack to come up with an easy to implement solution to overcome the barriers of the new legislation.”
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, said: “We recently released a report looking at the impact of EU VAT rules which concluded that while we all agree a single tax threshold would be the best solution, EU tax law can’t be amended over night.
“While we’re waiting for that to happen we’ve organised a disruptive tech hack find a simple solution that will enable small businesses to collect and format the required data and report this to HM Revenue and Customs via the VAT MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop) system without having to pay platform fees or spend thousands updating their website.”
The winning idea will get a £1,000 cash prize from KPMG – plus marketing and business support to get the product to market.
The VAT MOSS Tech Hackathon will take place on Wednesday 13 May, from 5 to 10pm, at KPMG offices in Canary Wharf.