Jan Mekelenkamp works at the Tax Authorities and is a registered accountant and IT auditor. We spoke with him in a personal capacity about the certification for trip registration systems, its importance and the new format of XAR files.
Independent standard
The certification for trip registration systems is an independent standard that has been assessed by an IT auditor and is managed by the foundation for certification of trip registration systems. Based on general principles, this foundation ensures a market standard without unnecessary barriers and costs. If you, as a supplier of trip registration systems, want to be seriously and independently assessed, then there is no reason not to join the foundation.
There are quite a few providers who offer a system with which you can register trips. That is not much more than what you do with a piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser. This means that there are systems on the market in which you can adjust everything unnoticed. That does not necessarily mean that everyone will do that, but when it comes to financial matters, a cornered cat can make strange jumps, says Mekelenkamp. If a car is made available, you must be able to account for it fiscally in the business environment. This mainly concerns private use and affects payroll tax, VAT, income tax and corporate tax. The certification confirms that a system registers and processes trips in a verifiable manner afterwards.
XAR files become even more GDPR-friendly
Through an XAR file, the Tax Authorities can check whether the trips correspond with what has been entered in the administration. It is an export file from a secure environment and the file is digitally sealed. A secured value is included so that it can be verified whether the file has been modified or not. If that is the case, the sealed value will no longer be correct.
In the new format, even more consideration is given to GDPR, says Mekelenkamp. Suppose we share a company car. Then previously, when I requested a file, I could also see your data. That will change. If I request a file, your trips are only partially available. For example, I see that you drove 400 km, but not when, what time and I also do not see the locations. In the system, the data is available. You can complete your fiscal accountability.
Trip registration systems with the certification will have logical access security, so that everyone who uses the system can only access the necessary data. That means that user A receives a different file than user B. At the end of 2023, the specifications were published and now the suppliers of trip registration systems are working on implementing this.
Would you like to know more about how you can export an XAR file from MyFMS? Feel free to contact us.
