E-commerce and EU VAT

E-commerce and EU VAT focusses on the e-commerce rules being introduced by the European Union (EU) Member States and similar rules that have been introduced in major non-EU jurisdictions – Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The new EU rules governing the online sales of goods and services affect all businesses that sell online to EU customers, no matter where the seller is based. Digitalisation has transformed the way goods and services are traded, challenging the very existence of traditional forms of retailing. This timely book, written by leading tax professionals from various EU countries, is the first to clearly explain the value added tax (VAT) compliance obligations and options that businesses and tax practitioners worldwide must understand to adapt to the new system. In addition to describing the legal framework, the authors provide examples of how the rules work in practice and illustrate available choices for businesses, with particular attention to avoiding pitfalls.

Thoroughly describing the rules affecting place of supply, liability, and accounting procedures in all relevant contexts, the book covers such areas of VAT compliance as the following:
- distinction between goods and services;
- differences between imported goods and goods sold intra-EU;
- filing and invoicing obligations under the new one-stop shop scheme;
- reclaiming foreign VAT;
- mitigating fears of fraud and hijacking;
- distinction between business-to-customer and business-to-business transactions; and
- navigating through appeals, mistakes, and adjustments.

Because a very large number of remote sellers of goods and services will need to understand and comply with the changes in the EU VAT e-commerce rules, it goes without saying that this book is indispensable to in-house corporate counsel worldwide. The first book of its kind on the new EU VAT rules for e-commerce in goods, it will prove to be an essential resource for tax administration officials, professionals in indirect tax management, corporate tax and finance directors and other tax professionals, and academics specialising in indirect tax law.