EU VAT changes affecting cross-border transactions

In the words of the EU commission ‘the biggest reform of EU VAT rules in a quarter of a century’ arrived in the UK at the end of December in an astoundingly unremarkable manner. However the changes will have a significant effect on businesses trading in goods with the rest of the EU. Competitors from other parts of the EU have been training swathes of employees for months.

For British businesses the changes became effective with only days of preparation time on 1 January 2020. Further there is no transition period.

When first announced by the EU Commission in 2017 the aim of the reform was to fulfil the promise made by the member states almost 25 years before: namely to introduce a definite VAT system for intra-EU supplies. However recognising that agreeing and implementing the necessary...