AverageBanana

These rules only affect cross-border sales within the EU. Any non-EU business supplying digital services direct to a customer in the EU will be affected. B2B supplies do not come under the scope of these rules. There's a lot of chatter on Twitter (#VATMOSS) about the new rules (mostly micro-businesses). The thing to remember is that EU member states with a high number of digital service customers will see a boost in VAT take as the VAT is accountable at the place of consumption. EDIT: I've have noticed these guys mentioned in the conversation: https://www.taxamo.com/#solution - they have developed an EU VAT compliance solution. HMRC have also released further information about the new rule changes, more details here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-supplying-dig.... The UK, by the way, has estimated that they will gain a VAT windfall of £1.2 billion between 2015 and 2019. It is now in the interests of EU member states to enforce collection of this VAT, as they will be the ones to benefit. The old (2003) rules meant a non-EU business could just set up in a low-tax jurisdiction and route all supplies via that establishment. Not possible with new rules, that's the key change.

Correct, the burden of proof is on the company that is supplying the electronic service. But it is not that they 'decide'. They need to collect required types of evidence (that do not conflict with each other) in order to prove where their end customer is. Accepted evidence includes the customer's IP address; their fixed landline; their mobile phone SIM card country code; and credit card billing address. VAT is based on where the service is 'consumed'. That German person who resides in the UK will have to pay UK VAT on any electronic service that they consume in the UK. There are a whole host of other rules if that person goes on holiday in the EU.

EDIT: If some of the evidence above 'conflicts' with the other, e.g. UK fixed landline but a German credit card billing address, then more evidence will be required until the merchant is satisfied as to the customer's precise location.

The affected companies will have two options. Register for VAT in each EU country in which they have sales, or avail of what is called a mini One-Stop Shop, commonly known as MOSS. MOSS, effectively, allows a company register with one EU tax authority for the filing of all their VAT. That tax authority will then distribute the VAT due to other EU member states. MOSS will eliminate the need to register in every EU member state that an affected company has sales (could be all 28 of course). For some clarity try these sites: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/posmoss/ http://blog.taxamo.com/moss-system-eu-vat/ http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_wo...

The whole area of VAT in the EU, for companies like Dropbox, changes on January 1, 2015. Dropbox will not be able to state that they don't pay VAT in the EU after this date as the rules will have changed. They will have to start paying VAT based on where their customer is located in the EU, e.g. German Dropbox customers will have to pay German VAT (19%). Hungarian Dropbox customers, meanwhile, will have to pay Hungarian VAT (27%). Dropbox will have to decide whether to pass on the price differential or absorb it. Interesting times.