International VAT on Cross-Border Goods and Services
Written and reviewed by the International Tax Accountants editorial team. Last reviewed 29 July 2026.
Cross-border VAT turns on where a supply is treated as made, not where the invoice is raised. For services to business customers the place of supply is usually where the customer belongs, which triggers the reverse charge; for services to consumers it is usually where the supplier belongs.
We take on that determination and the filings that follow. We work out the place of supply for each stream, apply the reverse charge or zero-rating correctly, and register you for the OSS or IOSS schemes where you sell goods to consumers in the EU or Northern Ireland.
This is compliance we run for you, not a general explainer. See the international tax accountants homepage for how it connects to the rest of the cross-border work.
What the VAT Engagement Covers
We map each supply to its place of supply and apply the right treatment. Business-to-business services generally fall where the customer belongs and use the reverse charge, while business-to-consumer services generally fall where the supplier belongs, all in line with the rules in VAT Notice 741A.
For goods, we handle zero-rated exports from Great Britain on the required evidence, and we register and file the Import One Stop Shop where you sell to EU or Northern Ireland consumers in consignments up to £135, or 150 euro, of intrinsic value. We also watch the 90,000 pound registration threshold that has applied since 1 April 2024.
Where goods are involved, Northern Ireland stays aligned with EU VAT under the Northern Ireland Protocol as amended by the Windsor Framework, while Great Britain does not, so we treat the two flows separately. The place-of-supply rules in section 7A of the VAT Act 1994 drive which country a supply belongs to.
Where Cross-Border VAT Gets Awkward
The classic error is charging UK VAT on a supply whose place of supply is abroad, or missing a reverse charge that the customer should account for. Both distort the return and can build up an unexpected liability, and they are easy to get wrong when a business sells a mix of goods and services.
The goods position for Northern Ireland is the other complication. Because Northern Ireland remains inside the EU VAT area for goods while Great Britain sits outside it, the same product can be treated differently depending on where it moves, and the OSS and IOSS registrations have to reflect that.
How We Handle Place of Supply and Filings
We begin with a supply review, listing every product and service stream and fixing its place of supply and VAT treatment. That review is what drives every later filing, so we do it before touching a return.
From there we register you where you need to be, whether that is UK VAT, OSS or IOSS, and file on the right cycle. Where the same business is also establishing in or expanding out of the United Kingdom, the VAT position feeds into the wider UK inbound and outbound structuring review.
What the VAT Work Costs
We work to a fixed fee agreed before we start, scoped against the number of supply streams and the registrations required. A one-off place-of-supply review and ongoing filings are priced separately so you only pay for what you need.
If your trade also creates a corporate tax footprint abroad, we can run that as a cross-border corporate tax engagement alongside the VAT work.