Introduction The importance of VAT, being the largest tax source for governments all over the world, but mainly in the European Union, can hardly be overestimated. This tax affects all transactions in daily life and provides governments with enormous incomes at relatively low perception costs due to its system of self assessment. The only thing governments have to do is monitor and audit the process. Since tax frontiers between Member States were abolished, businesses are confronted with an increasing number of VAT obligations in other Member States as well as in their own. This is not only caused by the fact that businesses increasingly tend to develop activities outside their home country, but also to specific European regulations, e.g. intra-community transactions and distance sales. In addition to the VAT, import duties are also levied upon importation of goods into the European Union. For the financing of its bodies, the European Union depends upon the income it derives from the import duties and the total of the VAT that the various national governments collect. Therefore, both national tax authorities and EU investigators are conducting more and more VAT and customs audits every year. It is in this system of checks and balances that businesses should seek assistance in order to pay the amount of VAT and import duties that is just and suitable: no less, but certainly no more.