Key takeaways
- Intra-Community VAT governs B2B trade between taxable persons in two EU member states.
- On a supply of goods to the EU, the seller in principle invoices without VAT: the buyer reverse-charges it at home.
- For services between taxable persons, VAT is due from the customer, with the mention "Reverse charge" on the invoice.
- A customer VAT number valid in VIES has been a substantive condition for the exemption since 2020.
Intra-Community VAT, invoicing across the EU's borders
As soon as a Belgian business sells to a business in another member state, it leaves the purely national VAT regime and enters that of intra-Community VAT. The question is easy to state but tricky to settle: should you add Belgian VAT, or invoice tax-free and let the customer account for it at home? The answer drives the amount invoiced, the mentions on the invoice and your reporting obligations.
The frame of reference is European: the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC sets the common rules, which the Belgian VAT Code transposes. The principle guiding trade between businesses is taxation in the country of destination, put into effect through exemption on the sale and the reverse charge on the purchase.
This article covers the central case: two taxable businesses, in two EU countries. It separates goods from services, details the conditions to meet and the mentions to carry, and recalls how to check a VAT number. It does not deal with sales to private individuals, which follow different rules.
Goods or services: two different logics
The first thing to establish is not the customer's country, but the nature of the transaction. An intra-Community supply of goods and a supply of services do not follow the same place-of-supply rules, even when the practical result looks alike: an invoice without Belgian VAT and a customer who accounts for the tax at home.
For goods, the regime rests on an exemption as they leave the territory, the counterpart of an acquisition taxed on arrival. For services between taxable persons, the general rule locates the transaction where the customer is established: VAT is due there, from the customer.
| Supply of goods | Supply of services (B2B) | |
|---|---|---|
| VAT charged by the seller | ||
| Tax due from the customer in their country | ||
| Physical transport of the goods required | ||
| Typical mention on the invoice | Exemption (art. 39bis) | Reverse charge |
| To be reported in the recapitulative statement |
Supplies of goods: the exemption and its conditions
An intra-Community supply of goods can be exempt from VAT in the country of departure. In Belgium, this exemption rests on article 39bis of the VAT Code, which transposes article 138 of Directive 2006/112/EC. The idea: avoid taxing twice by exempting the sale, since the acquisition will be taxed in the country of arrival.
The exemption is not automatic. It requires several conditions to be met, and the authorities can challenge it if one is missing. Since the Quick Fixes, a set of harmonisation measures applicable on 1 January 2020, holding a valid VAT number for the customer, listed in VIES, has become a substantive condition of the exemption rather than a mere formality. Reporting the transaction in the recapitulative statement is required too: without it the exemption is refused, unless the supplier can duly justify the shortcoming to the authorities (article 138(1a) of Directive 2006/112/EC).
Conditions for an exempt intra-Community supply
The customer is a taxable person
They act as a business and hold a VAT number in another member state.
The customer's VAT number is valid in VIES
A substantive condition since 2020, to check at the time of the transaction.
The goods physically leave the country of departure
Transport to another member state must occur and be provable.
The transaction is reported in the recapitulative statement
The seller declares the supply to the authorities.
Proof of transport deserves particular attention. It is often what is missing during an inspection: without a document establishing that the goods did leave the country, the exemption can be refused and the VAT claimed from the seller. Keep the transport records with the invoice.
Supplies of services: the reverse-charge principle
For services supplied to another taxable person in the EU, the general place-of-supply rule places the transaction in the customer's country (article 44 of Directive 2006/112/EC). In practice, the Belgian provider invoices without VAT and it is the customer who applies the reverse charge: they declare the VAT due in their own country, setting it, where applicable, against the deductible VAT.
The reverse charge is neither a favour nor an option: it is the mechanism designed to spare a provider from having to register for VAT in every country where they have a customer. The invoice must make this switch explicit, otherwise the customer will not know that it falls to them to declare the tax.
exempts intra-EU supplies
Belgian VAT Code
checks the customer's VAT number
European Commission system
the Quick Fixes tighten the conditions
a valid VAT number became a substantive condition
The mentions to put on the invoice
An intra-Community invoice differs from a domestic one by what it states and what it omits. It shows no Belgian VAT rate or amount, but it must make the regime legible for the customer and for the authorities. Two mentions structure the document.
First, identification: both the seller's and the customer's VAT numbers must appear on the invoice. It is the customer's number, valid in VIES, that justifies the absence of VAT. Second, the reason: a supply of services under the reverse charge carries the mention "Reverse charge"; an exempt supply of goods refers to the provision grounding the exemption, for example article 39bis of the VAT Code. For the other mentions common to any invoice, see the mandatory invoice details in Belgium.
Compliant intra-Community invoices, without the VAT headache
YouInv picks up the VAT number, applies the right regime and adds the correct mention to your invoices to the EU.
Checking the VAT number and reporting
Checking the customer's VAT number is not an optional precaution. The VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) service, provided by the European Commission, lets you verify free of charge that a VAT number is valid and active in another member state. Since 2020, this check conditions the exemption of a supply of goods: an invalid number, and the transaction can be requalified.
On the reporting side, intra-Community transactions do not stop at the invoice. The seller reports its supplies of goods and services in a recapitulative statement sent to the authorities, which cross-check the data against the declarations of other member states. That cross-checking is what gives meaning to verifying the VAT number upfront. These transactions also appear, in the fields provided, in the periodic VAT return.
What it changes for your business
Intra-Community VAT is not a regime reserved for large exporters: it applies from the first sale to a business in another member state. Handled well, it lightens the invoice and avoids double taxation; applied poorly, it exposes you to a VAT reassessment on transactions you believed to be exempt.
The essentials come down to three reflexes: qualify the transaction (goods or service), check the customer's VAT number in VIES, and carry the right mention on the invoice. Up-to-date invoicing software chains these steps for you and secures compliance, in Belgium as well as across the rest of the EU.
Further reading
- The mandatory invoice details in Belgium: what every invoice must contain.
- VAT and e-invoicing in Belgium: how VAT and the structured invoice fit together.
- ViDA: what the EU is preparing for VAT in the digital age: the evolution of cross-border VAT reporting.
The reference source is authoritative: Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT published on EUR-Lex.
What is intra-Community VAT?
Intra-Community VAT is the VAT regime applied to supplies of goods and services between taxable businesses in two European Union member states. In most B2B cases the seller invoices without VAT and it is the buyer who declares and pays the VAT in their own country, under the reverse-charge principle.
When can you invoice without VAT to a customer in the EU?
For a supply of goods to another member state, the exemption requires, among other things, that the goods physically leave the country of departure, that the customer is a taxable person with a valid VAT number in another member state, and that the seller reports the transaction in its recapitulative statement. For services between taxable persons, VAT is in principle due from the customer in their country.
How do you check a European customer's VAT number?
A customer's intra-Community VAT number is checked free of charge in VIES, the European Commission's system. Since the Quick Fixes applicable on 1 January 2020, a valid VAT number listed in VIES is a substantive condition for the exemption of an intra-Community supply, not a mere formality.
What is the VAT reverse charge?
The reverse charge means that the seller does not charge VAT; instead the buyer declares it themselves in their country, accounting for the VAT due and, where applicable, the deductible VAT at the same time. It is the mechanism that applies to services between taxable persons in two member states.
What mention goes on an intra-Community invoice?
An invoice for services under the reverse charge carries the mention "Reverse charge". An exempt supply of goods refers to the provision that grounds the exemption, for example article 39bis of the Belgian VAT Code. Both the seller's and the customer's VAT numbers must appear on the invoice.
