Background

Blacknight is an Ireland-based, ICANN-accredited domain registrar and hosting provider. Renowned for its focus on innovation, Blacknight is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most advanced internet companies, providing digital infrastructure services to customers across multiple jurisdictions.

Blacknight has been a client of Fintua since 2021. With strong regional familiarity with the company, the team engaged Fintua when it became clear that Brexit-related changes meant Blacknight would need to register for VAT and file VAT returns in the UK. After reviewing several providers, Fintua was selected due to its user-friendly technology, strong customer service and competitive pricing.

The challenge 

Before working with Fintua, Blacknight included UK VAT within its quarterly EU OSS filings. Following Brexit, it became clear that the nature of the company’s services required a separate UK VAT registration and ongoing compliance with HMRC requirements.

Managing HMRC’s digital and formatting rules internally would have been complex and resource intensive. Blacknight needed a secure, dependable solution that simplified compliance and integrated easily with existing processes. Fintua Comply delivered this through a secure online portal and flexible Excel file uploads, enabling Blacknight to meet its UK VAT obligations without additional administrative effort.

“We chose Fintua primarily due to ease of use of technology, customer service and price competitiveness.” 

Caroline Kelly, Finance Manager, Blacknight

The solution

Blacknight implemented Comply, Fintua’s flagship VAT compliance solution. Comply automates the preparation and submission of VAT filings for global VAT compliance, ensuring full adherence to country-specific requirements in a landscape of constantly evolving tax regulations.

Comply provided Blacknight with a straightforward and reliable way to manage its UK VAT obligations following Brexit. By removing the complexity associated with HMRC’s digital and reporting requirements, Comply ensured that Blacknight could meet its compliance obligations without relying on additional internal resources or specialist expertise.

With confidence that UK VAT filings are being handled correctly, Blacknight can rely on Comply as part of its wider finance and compliance infrastructure. This has allowed the business to keep operating costs low while maintaining full compliance, freeing up time and resources to focus on other strategic areas of the organisation.

Results

Since implementing Comply, Blacknight has: 

  • Consolidated and simplified VAT registrations
  • Improved data transparency and auditability
  • Ensured on-time VAT return submissions
  • Achieved significant time and cost reduction
  • Gained confidence in compliance through expert support

The reduction in manual effort and administrative oversight achieved with Comply has simplified VAT processes and removed the need to manage UK VAT requirements internally. This efficiency has enabled Blacknight to reallocate resources toward higher value initiatives, helping the business focus on core operations and innovation.

“Comply contributes to keeping our operating costs low and allows us to focus on other areas of the business knowing that our UK VAT needs are being met.”

Caroline Kelly, Finance Manager, Blacknight