Trade between EU

[etrades]

Hello Everyone

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and wishing everyone on the forum HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I have a query relating to trade between EC . i have been on HMRC website for past couple of hours and found that when you trade between EC zone. and if we and the buyer lets say in France is VAT registered , then we can ZERO VAT the invoice as they are termed to be Intra-EC trade ?

Is this correct. ?

the help says we need to get :
1. their VAT number

2. check if its valid VAT number (however validation doesnt show it belongs to them however we have a VAT registration copy they have sent us by email as a proof)

3. and then make sure it reaches the same destination as per invoice !

so is it true we dont have to charge VAT with EC zone if the buyer is VAT registered !


regards

 

[David Richards]

I have a query relating to trade between EC . i have been on HMRC website for past couple of hours and found that when you trade between EC zone. and if we and the buyer lets say in France is VAT registered , then we can ZERO VAT the invoice as they are termed to be Intra-EC trade ?

Is this correct. ?

Yes.

the help says we need to get :
1. their VAT number

2. check if its valid VAT number (however validation doesnt show it belongs to them however we have a VAT registration copy they have sent us by email as a proof)

3. and then make sure it reaches the same destination as per invoice !

so is it true we dont have to charge VAT with EC zone if the buyer is VAT registered !

Again, yes.

 

[Merlion ABS]

make sure you put their VAT number on the invoice. There is a website to check the validity of the VAT numbers just in case.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do

always useful to have!

 

[etrades]

make sure you put their VAT number on the invoice. There is a website to check the validity of the VAT numbers just in case.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do

always useful to have!

thx for that, yes we have already checked that, unfortunately it only says valid but doesnt give thier details against them

 

[Merlion ABS]

Unfortunately you have to take their word for it. You might be able to find info on them from their website or letterheads etc... Still doesn't mean its correct though but might provide a little more sense of comfortability with it.

From an Inland Revenue point of view you will have to provide an EC sales Return form to them every quarter and they check the VAT numbers anyway so this might throw up any anomalies.

Its never easy dealing with foreign customers due to language barriers and all that.

 

[dagr]

thx for that, yes we have already checked that, unfortunately it only says valid but doesnt give thier details against them

If it's a French company, the free website below will let you check some details.

http://www.societe.com/

It's in French, but if you enter their name in the search box in the grey band, you will get a list of companies with that name. Click on the name and you'll get a summary page of that company. Top left is their "RCS" number, the company's registration number. In France, unlike the UK, this is almost the same as their VAT number. For example, if a French company's RCS number is "123 456 789", then their VAT number will be "FR xx 123 456 789" where xx is an arbitrary two-digit number.

Hope this helps.

 

[etrades]

If it's a French company, the free website below will let you check some details.

http://www.societe.com/

It's in French, but if you enter their name in the search box in the grey band, you will get a list of companies with that name. Click on the name and you'll get a summary page of that company. Top left is their "RCS" number, the company's registration number. In France, unlike the UK, this is almost the same as their VAT number. For example, if a French company's RCS number is "123 456 789", then their VAT number will be "FR xx 123 456 789" where xx is an arbitrary two-digit number.

Hope this helps.

Thanks David it really helped , we were able to verify it 100% , infact we do have a copy of their tva registration docs but this helps to confirm it further

Great forum ! excellent people ...

Once again Big Thanks to everyone for their input !!