Reverse-charge decision engine
Tell us where you are, who you're selling to, and what you're selling. We tell you which country's VAT applies, what your invoice should say, and the legal basis for the treatment. According to the EU VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC), this decision engine applies consistently across all 27 EU member states; see our methodology for the full source basis.
Treatment rules in this engine
The engine encodes 8 pattern rules derived from the EU VAT Directive (2006/112/EC), the UK VAT Act 1994, and HMRC guidance. Each rule is shown below with its legal basis.
Intra-EU acquisition - reverse-charge applies
VAT applied: The customer's country rate applies (reverse-charge, customer self-accounts)
Legal basis: EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC Art. 138
Supplier zero-rates; customer self-assesses VAT in own return.
Distance selling - destination-country VAT above EUR 10k EU-wide threshold
VAT applied: The customer's country rate applies (reverse-charge, customer self-accounts)
Legal basis: EU VAT Directive Art. 33 (since 1 Jul 2021)
Under EUR 10k per year EU-wide: origin-country VAT. Above: destination via OSS.
OSS scheme - VAT in customer country at their rate
VAT applied: The customer's country rate applies (reverse-charge, customer self-accounts)
Legal basis: EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC Art. 58
One-Stop Shop (OSS, formerly MOSS) reporting.
B2B general rule - reverse-charge in customer country
VAT applied: The customer's country rate applies (reverse-charge, customer self-accounts)
Legal basis: EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC Art. 44
Default for most cross-border B2B services since 2010.
Export from EU to GB - zero-rated in EU; UK import VAT applies
VAT applied: UK import VAT applies (paid at/after the border by the importer)
Legal basis: UK-EU TCA + HMRC Notice 700
UK importer accounts for import VAT via postponed VAT accounting.
B2B services to GB - outside scope of EU VAT
VAT applied: Outside the scope of EU VAT; UK reverse-charge or general rule may apply on the UK side
Legal basis: UK VAT Act 1994 + EU place-of-supply rules
UK customer applies UK reverse-charge.
Export from UK to EU - zero-rated in UK; EU import VAT applies
VAT applied: EU import VAT applies (paid at/after the border by the importer)
Legal basis: UK VAT Act 1994 + EU Customs Code
EU importer accounts for import VAT in own country.
B2B services from UK to EU - supplier zero-rates; EU customer reverse-charges
VAT applied: The customer's country rate applies (reverse-charge, customer self-accounts)
Legal basis: EU VAT Directive Art. 44 (place of supply: customer)
EU customer self-assesses VAT in own country.
PlainVAT renders country-rate figures from the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union VAT-rate registry; explanatory guidance links to its relevant authority sources. This page draws directly on the European Commission VAT-rate registry, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.