Formalities for Invoicing for Intra-Community Trade and Services

It might be that you do not have to add VAT to your invoices for any business inside the community but you have to meet a bunch of formalities! Here we will describe the formalities for billing intra-community trade and services.

What are the consequences for the formalities of invoicing now? They are already a nightmare. Will they change now?

No, not really significantly – disregarding the question of where the performance is taking place. The main change will be that you sometimes have to add your VAT-ID and sometimes not. When in doubt, just always add your ID and that’s it. Sometimes, you will also need the VAT-ID of business partner located outside of Germany. When you need their VAT-ID, first check their website and if it is not published there, then ask your supplier / client / customer. At least in Austria, companies are required to publish their VAT-ID (UID).
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What are the new formalities for recording my income?

Add to your spreadsheet two extra columns for “intra-community income” and “intra-community expenses” to sort out such income / expenses that will go into the summary report (Zusammenfassende Meldung). The rest remains the same.
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What does the performing business have to report?

When a domestic business renders a performance, reporting requirements will depend and vary if the performance has been completed in Germany, EU, or outside the community. As a rule of thumb, when performing outside of the EU any and all requirements will be determined by that national law. You can rely on your customer that she will tell you when something is missing in order for her to deduct or avoid paying VAT.
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