VAT from European countries

[trixie]

Hi,
I am just getting into VAT etc with my new business.

How do I treat VAT on invoices and receipts from European countries? Do I need to declare those?

Any tips are very much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[phillipsinternet]

I would also be interested in any advice that anyone can give.

In my particular situation I bought a software upgrade from the Czech republic for 15.96 euros + 3.03 euros czech VAT (19%).

As the value of the goods (the amount is actually just a shipping charge, the software was free) is under £18 do I even need to bother declaring the amount on my VAT return?

I'm not bothered about reclaiming the 3.03 VAT.

Thanks in advance!

 

[snipe12]

It works like so.

If you sell something to someone in the EU and they provide you with their VAT number, you should zero rate the VAT and they have to pay the local VAT rate in their country.

If you buy something from Europe, you provide your VAT number and they (the seller) should zero rate it and you pay 17.5% in England. Some items this isn't 100% true such as food where in Europe they pay VAT and we don't.

Oh P.S. you cannot put Czech VAT on your VAT return, it is only for UK VAT. There is a way to reclaim EU VAT paid but it is expensive and very very limited and full of red tape.

One final thing is keep a record of all items sold which are shipped abroad, good records as it used to be a VAT scam so they can be a little funny and you need to fill in a form of all sales shipped abroad each year.

 

[JGOffshore]

If your business is registered for VAT then as stated above let your EU suppliers have your VAT number and they should not charge you VAT. This applies to most goods and services supplied from other member states but there are exeptions to do with property located in another state when VAT would be charged. All this works the other way around if you are supplying goods and services outside the UK.

It is indeed possible to reclaim VAT paid on certain services supplied in another state. This is different from the cross-border situation explained above. For example if a UK company sent staff to another member state, say for an exhibition or conference, then certain services such as hotels, car hire, expenses related to participating in an exhibition (stand hire, publicity) can be reclaimed. This process used to be complex, costly etc but since January this year it has been simplified - though that is a relative concept as it still isn't all that straightforward.

We do make such claims for some clients, including non-EU clients as it is also possible for them to reclaim.