The standard VAT report RFUMSV00 uses the posting date as the selection date for reporting. For example, if you run the report for period 3 in the year 2011 all documents with a posting date in March 2011 are considered. You can also do VAT reporting based on the document date. For example, you select period 1 to 12 in the year 2011 and additionally you use as a selection criterion the document date. Select document date March 1, 2011, up to and including March 31, 2011.

However, for some European countries these parameters are not sufficient. In these countries you must report according to the date the VAT liability arises. Examples of these countries are Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Spain. Depending on the country the reporting can be, for example, the delivery date, payment due date, or a date agreed upon by the customer and supplier.

To be able to report according to this legal requirement, SAP has added a new field to the BKPF table. This table stores the header of financial documents. This functionality is standard in Release 604 of SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC). For older releases it needs to be implemented with Support Packages. A manual implementation is necessary for the following releases or Support Packages shown in Table 1. (Also see SAP Note 1023317.)

Table 1

Older releases of SAP ECC and Support Packages

The SAP system’s enhancement not only adds the new field name BKPF - VATDATE to the table BKPF but also adjusts relevant reports. The enhancement makes the field for input in posting transactions available, enables the use of this field for foreign currency translation of the VAT amount, and offers users a conversion program for already existing documents.

Make the Tax Reporting Date a Changeable Field

Standard in the financial document headers only, the header text and reference are changeable fields. The reporting date should also be made available as a changeable field in order to correct any mistakes. Start transaction OB32 or go via the IMG menu path Financial accounting > General ledger Accounting > Business transactions > GL Account Posting > Make and Check Document Settings > Document Change Rules, Document Header I (Figure 1). Click the New Entries button and add the Fld name (field name) BKPF - VATDATE and save your entry by pressing the save icon. The details are not shown in this article because the settings are very simple. You can also compare the settings with other entries made for BKPF.

Figure 1

Add the tax reporting date as a changeable field

Adjust the Settings for the Company Code Global Data

You must indicate per company code that you want to use the tax reporting date; that is, the tax reporting date can be filled when making postings for the company code. If you do not indicate this request, when posting the system clears this field (makes it empty). You can also indicate in the company code’s global data which date should be used for the foreign currency translation of the VAT amount. Start transaction OBY6 or follow the IMG menu path Financial accounting > Financial Accounting Global Settings > Company Code > Enter Global Parameters. When you start this transaction an overview of all existing company codes is given. Double-click the entry you want to change (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Maintain global parameters company code

To activate the use of the tax reporting date you must select the Tax Reporting Date Active check box shown at the bottom of the screen (Figure 2). You can also set an indicator of which date should be used for the foreign currency translation (Crcy transl. for tax) of the VAT amount. In Figure 2 it has been set to blank, meaning the rate as specified in the posting header will be used. The other options you can choose from are shown in Figure 3. Option 5, Exchange Rate Determination According to Tax Reporting Date, is newly developed for tax reporting date functionality.

Figure 3

Options for the foreign currency translation date

Determine the Value of the Tax Reporting Date

In the standard SAP system, the tax reporting date is set to the posting date. However, you also can set the default value to the document date by using transaction OBCK. You can also start this transaction by following IMG menu path Financial accounting > Financial Accounting Global Settings > Tax on Sales/Purchases > Calculation > Assign Company Code to Document Date for Tax Determination. In Figure 4 the indicator has been set to make the document date the default tax reporting date.

Figure 4

Set the document date to the default tax reporting date

The default tax reporting date is only filled if no tax reporting date is filled manually or automatically. A standard Business Add-In (BAdI) called VATDATE_VALUES is available concerning the tax reporting date. VATDATE_VALUES has two methods (a method is used in a program to manipulate an object such as a field). The first method, called VATDATE_DETERMINE, ensures that if the field tax reporting date is initial (i.e., empty), a value is entered. For instance, you can use this method to set the tax reporting date to the delivery date of a sales order. The second method, called VATDATE_CHECK, can be used to check the date entered as a tax reporting date. An example of a check could be that the tax reporting date is always more than five days after the document date.

A standard implementation had been delivered for the BAdI. This implementation is standard activated. You can check the settings and, if necessary, change them by following IMG path menu Financial accounting > Financial Accounting Global Settings > Tax on Sales/Purchases > Basic Settings > Define and Check Tax reporting Date (Figure 5). If you have already made your own enhancement, you may want to replace the standard delivered BAdIs with your own enhancements.

Figure 5

Implementation of a BAdI tax reporting date

The BAdI VATDATE_VALUES has been implemented in:

• Function group TAX1 (taxes)
• Program SAPMF05A (entering accounting documents)
• Program SAPMF05L (displaying/changing financial accounting documents)
• Function group RWCL (general interface to accounting)
• Function group SAPLFCJ_PROCESS_MANAGER (Cash Journal)

Determine the Exchange Rate for Tax Items

For postings made directly within finance you determine the tax rate by the settings in the company code’s global data. For financial accounting interface programs a BAdI must be used. A standard BAdI called BADI_TAX_EXCHANGE_RATE is available for the tax exchange rate. BADI_TAX_EXCHANGE_RATE includes one method called TXKRS_SET. You can modify this method according to your own requirements.

A standard implementation had been delivered for the BAdI. This implementation is standard activated. You can check the settings and, if necessary, change them by following IMG path menu Financial accounting > Financial Accounting Global Settings > Tax on Sales/Purchases > Calculation > Determine Exchange Rate for Tax Items (Figure 6). A change may be necessary in case you have already made your own enhancement.

Figure 6

Implementation to determine exchange rate tax items

Use of the Tax Reporting Date

The new field BKPF - VATDATE is available for manual entry in all transactions for financial postings such as FB01, FB50, FV60, and MIRO. In this case it is transaction code FB50 (Figure 7). As you can see on the details tab you can enter the Tax Report Date.

Reporting

The field BKPF - VATDATE has been added to the logical database BRF and is therefore available in all reports using this database. However, in most reports, the field has been set to hidden, and therefore it is not visible in these reports. However, it can easily be made available in the dynamic selections.

In the standard and country-specific legal reports, (e.g., VAT reports RFUMSV00 and RFUMSV10), the Tax Reporting Date field is standard visible (i.e., when you start the report it is visible on the screen; in other reports it is only visible as a dynamic selection) and therefore available as selection criterion. Figure 8 shows the field in the report RFUMSV00.

Figure 8

Standard VAT report RFUMSV00

Conversion

When you start using the tax reporting date functionality, it may be necessary to convert existing financial documents without a tax reporting date. For example, documents created before the tax reporting date have been activated, but don’t have a value in this field. SAP has developed report GLO_VATDATE to fill the tax reporting date.

As you can see in Figure 9 you can fill the tax reporting date with Posting Date, Document Date, Payment Due Date, or a date entered in the header text (Header Text Filed [BKTXT]). The tax reporting date is only filled in case it is initial; already-existing dates are not overwritten.

Figure 9

SAP report GLO_VATDATE

Kees van Westerop

Kees van Westerop has been working as an SAP consultant for more than 25 years. He has an MBA degree in mathematics and a degree in finance. Kees has been concentrating on the financial modules, especially in general ledger accounting, cost center accounting, and consolidation. He also has a great deal of experience with rollouts of kernel systems and integrating finance and logistics.

You may contact the author at keesvanwesterop@hotmail.com.

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