If you sell your goods to final consumers from other EU countries and you exceed the threshold for distance selling in one calendar year, which is set in this particular country, you must register for a VAT number.

Example: Let’s say you are a German company that is selling goods online to final consumers in the Netherlands. You issue invoices with the German VAT if the distance selling of goods in one calendar year does not exceed 100.000EUR (this is a representative example and that is the threshold for selling online goods in the Netherlands – more information regarding thresholds according to each country can be found in our VAT country guide lines – LINK). If you, as the German company, exceed this threshold, you have to register for VAT in the Netherlands. After you receive the VAT number in the Netherlands, you have to issue invoices with the Netherland VAT and file the Netherland VAT returns.

If you are supplying goods to final consumers from a warehouse that is located in another EU country (in the EU country where you store goods and you don’t have their VAT number), then you must apply for a VAT number before you start with the supply of goods.

Example: Let’s say you are a German company that has its goods stored in a warehouse in France. You sell your goods to French final consumers. You, as a German company, must register for a VAT number in France before your first supply from the warehouse in France. In this particular case distance sales VAT rules do not apply, because we are talking about a local supply in France.

If you are an EU company that is providing services regarding real estate in another EU country, then registration for a VAT number in this country is obligatory (for example, services of estate agents and experts, and services for the preparation and coordination of construction works, such as the services of architects or firms providing on-site supervision).

Example: Let’s say you are an Austrian company that does construction work on a real estate in France (for example, you are changing the roof of a house). Construction works are ordered by the final consumer. Before you start work on the house, you have to register for a French VAT number and issue an invoice with the French VAT number.

If you are supplying your goods from a warehouse located in an EU country A to a taxable person who is from an EU country B, then you must apply for a VAT number in the country where the warehouse is located – EU country A.

Example: Let’s say you are an Italian taxable person that has its goods stored in a rented warehouse in France. You are supplying your goods from France to your client who is a taxable person from Spain. Then, it is obligatory for you, as an Italian taxable person, to apply for a VAT number in France where your warehouse is.

If you acquire goods from a taxable person from another EU country to a warehouse that is located in an EU country that is neither in your country nor in the taxable person’s country, you have to apply for a VAT number in the EU country of the warehouse’s location.

Example: Let’s say you are a Polish taxable person and you’ve made a deal with a Dutch taxpayer to deliver goods in a German warehouse. You, as a Polish taxable person, have to apply for a VAT number in Germany where the goods will be delivered to.

If you are exporting your goods from an EU country that is not where your company is located to a country which is not a member of the EU, it is obligatory to register for a VAT number in the country of the export of goods.

Example: Let’s say you are a Spanish taxable person that is exporting goods from Austria to Switzerland. Although the transaction alone is not taxed in the EU, it is still obligatory to register for a VAT number in Austria.