Results of the survey of Intrastat data providers 2014
Statistics Estonia carried out the survey of Intrastat data providers in October 2014 to measure the administrative burden caused by Intrastat and the satisfaction of data providers. The obtained data and collected feedback will be used in the development and simplification of the Intrastat report. Statistics Estonia expresses its gratitude to all the data providers who participated in the survey!
The questionnaire was filled in by 1,091 respondents. There were 448 replies from enterprises with Intrastat reporting obligation and 211 replies from third-party declarers.
1. Do you consider Intrastat reporting to be burdensome for your enterprise? (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all and 5 = very burdensome)
| 1 | 8% |
| 2 | 17% |
| 3 | 33% |
| 4 | 26% |
| 5 | 17% |
2. How long have you personally been involved in Intrastat reporting?
| Less than 1 year | 10% |
| 1–3 years | 22% |
| Over 3 years | 68% |
3. If Intrastat reporting has been your responsibility for over 3 years, how has the burden caused by Intrastat changed during this time period, in your opinion?
| Decreased | 13% |
| Remained on the same level | 51% |
| Increased | 36% |
4. How much time is spent each month, on average, on the preparation of your monthly Intrastat report?
| Less than 1 hour | 52% |
| 2–3 hours | 23% |
| 4–10 hours | 17% |
| Over 10 hours | 7% |
The monthly average time spent on Intrastat reporting is 3.6 hours.
5. How much money is spent each month, on average, on the preparation of your monthly Intrastat report (the cost of working hours or amount of payment to declarer)?
| Over 101 euros | 11% |
| 51–100 euros | 23% |
| 11-50 euros | 42% |
| 1-10 euros | 24% |
The monthly average amount of money spent on Intrastat reporting is 70 euros.
6. Are you satisfied with the currently used means of data transmission? (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all and 5 = very pleased)
| Means of data transmission | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Total | 13% | 14% | 33% | 29% | 11% |
| eSTAT | 19% | 21% | 35% | 20% | 5% |
| Paper report | 19% | 15% | 48% | 15% | 4% |
| Other (Intrastat.xls; file upload; bookkeeping software) | 5% | 5% | 28% | 43% | 19% |
7. Which indicators are difficult to fill in in the report? (on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = not at all and 5 = very difficult)
| Indicator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Commodity code | 29% | 13% | 17% | 19% | 22% |
| Net mass | 34% | 21% | 15% | 16% | 15% |
| Quantity and supplementary unit | 43% | 24% | 14% | 12% | 7% |
| Country of consignment or country of destination | 68% | 16% | 10% | 3% | 3% |
| Country of origin | 53% | 15% | 14% | 8% | 8% |
| Invoice value | 75% | 13% | 7% | 2% | 3% |
| Nature of transaction | 70% | 14% | 9% | 3% | 4% |
| Statistical value | 55% | 11% | 13% | 8% | 12% |
8. What is causing problems in Intrastat reporting?
| Optional answers | Number of answers |
| The volume of the report (number of lines) is large | 202 |
| Filling in the report is complicated | 134 |
| The data submission deadline is short | 223 |
| The submission of data to Statistics Estonia is inconvenient | 200 |
| Other problem | 158 |
| incl. problems with eSTAT | 57 |
| incl. problems with classifying goods | 29 |
| incl. problems with Intrastat.xls and currency rates | 10 |
9. How do you prepare your data for the Intrastat report?
| Optional answers | Number of answers |
| The report is generated automatically | 20 |
| The report is generated automatically but additional data processing is required | 142 |
| The report is filled in manually | 480 |
10. Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has developed a proposal called SIMSTAT to simplify Intrastat reporting. The proposal foresees that all Member States would collect only dispatches data in the future; national statistical authorities would exchange the data with each other and the dispatch data of partner countries would be used to calculate national arrivals. The implementation of this proposal would mean that the obligation of the data providers to declare arrivals would disappear partially or altogether. On the other hand, it would be necessary to collect the VAT number of the trading partner and report transactions by trading partners in the dispatches report. Do you support the implementation of such a proposal?
| Support | 75% |
| Do not support | 25% |
10.1 If you report Intrastat dispatches, do you know the VAT number of your trading partner in another Member State?
| Yes | 75% |
| No | 9% |
| Sometimes | 16% |
10.2 How much would your administrative burden in reporting dispatches increase if it were necessary to include the VAT number of your trading partner and report transactions by trading partners?
| Less than 10% | 35% |
| 10–25% | 33% |
| 26–50% | 17% |
| Over 50% | 15% |
11. What other options would help to decrease your administrative burden in Intrastat reporting (select multiple options, if necessary)?
| Optional answers | Number of answers |
| The statistical thresholds should be higher (i.e. more enterprises are exempted from the reporting obligation) | 266 |
|
The Intrastat report should be merged with the tax declaration VIES (the Estonian Tax and Customs Board would collect the data; the merged report would include the indicators from both reports) |
270 |
| The commodity codes should be less detailed (for example, at the 6-digit level) | 313 |
| Small-value transactions (invoices) should be summed up and reported under one simplified commodity code | 309 |
| Other | 51 |
| incl. a better technical solution for data submission | 16 |
| incl. the possibility to save frequent indicators | 5 |
| incl. a later deadline for data submission | 3 |
12. Comments from data providers
| Most common comments | Number of answers |
| Total number of comments | 88 |
| Electronic data submission is inconvenient and time-consuming. There are technical problems and bugs in the electronic reporting system. | 31 |
| Classifying goods is complicated. It should be easier to find the correct codes or they should be available in the invoices. The changes in commodity codes are causing problems. | 10 |
| The same indicators are collected by different government institutions. Statistics Estonia should use the data already provided to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. | 7 |
| The data submission deadline is too short or should be similar with the deadline for tax declarations. | 3 |