04 December 2019 
Amanda Darley, Head of Operations and Engagement
The EU will introduce four new rules, called the VAT ‘Quick Fixes’ to improve compliance in intracommunity trade from 1 January 2020. While these are unlikely to have a big impact in HE, and who knows whether/how they will apply after B-day on 31 January, it is worth knowing about them and making sure your processes for moving goods into EU member states are robust.
The rules around call-off stock and chain transactions are unlikely to be relevant to universities, but the new substantive condition to obtain and display your customer’s EU VAT number and correctly state it on your EC Sales List will be. Previously this was determined by the CJEU to be only a ‘formal requirement’ not a ‘substantive requirement’ (who knew?), and so there were cases were the lack of the customer’s VAT number on the invoice did not deny zero-rating provided all substantive conditions were met. If you don’t have your customer’s VAT number from 1 January you could now be liable to account for UK VAT (but your customer may still have a requirement to account for acquisition tax).
The rules on proof of transport are also changing, in order to harmonise the requirements across the EU. You can find more information on this, and the other rules, in this Grant Thornton article. You can also listen to this replay of a Deloitte webinar about the Quick Fixes.
