Cross-border transaction data
This goes through the electronic invoicing flow: sales invoices and supplementary purchase documents must be sent through the SdI.
VAT numbers · Cross-border transactions
Invoicing clients abroad
When invoicing clients abroad, the question to ask first is "where is the transaction deemed to take place?" rather than "what VAT do I charge?". Everything else follows from that answer: the rate, the reporting obligations, the lists to file.
01 · The principle
Where the transaction is deemed to take place
VAT is a territorial tax: it applies where the transaction is deemed to take place. For goods, what counts is where they are and where they go; for services, as a general rule, what counts is where the customer is established, when the customer is a business.
Everything follows from this: if the transaction is outside the scope of Italian VAT, the invoice is issued without tax and the obligation to pay passes to the foreign customer, who applies their own country's VAT.
| Transaction | VAT treatment |
|---|---|
| Services to an EU business | Outside the scope, with the reverse charge applied by the customer |
| Services to an EU private individual | Italian VAT, except for special rules and the OSS scheme |
| Services to a non-EU customer | Outside the scope, with specific rules for some categories |
| Supply of goods to an EU business | Zero-rated, with strict requirements |
| Supply of goods outside the EU | Zero-rated as an export, with proof that the goods left the EU |
| Purchases from EU suppliers | Supplementing the invoice and recording it twice |
The general rules have many exceptions: services relating to property, transport, catering, admission to events and the hire of means of transport follow their own criteria. Before applying the general rule, it is worth checking that your case does not fall under an exception.
02 · Registration
What VIES is and why you need it
VIES is the European database of businesses authorised to carry out intra-EU transactions. Without registration, a transaction cannot be treated as intra-EU: Italian VAT must be charged on it.
- You apply for registration with the notice of start of business or later, online.
- It becomes effective quickly, but not instantly: apply before your first transaction, not on the same day.
- You also need to check the other party: the European database lets you verify that the customer's VAT number is valid and registered.
- Keep a record of the check: it proves your good faith if you are audited.
- Registration can be revoked for inactivity: anyone who carries out no intra-EU transactions for a certain period is removed.
- Taxpayers under the regime forfettario (flat-rate scheme) must also register with VIES for intra-EU transactions.
Invoicing without VAT an EU customer who is not registered with VIES is the most expensive mistake in this area: the transaction has to be reclassified as domestic and the VAT falls on the person who issued the invoice, who will find it hard to recover from the customer months later.
03 · Services supplied
Invoicing services to clients abroad
This is the most frequent case for professionals, consultants and developers. The general rule is simple; the exceptions are not.
EU business customer
Invoice without VAT, with the reverse charge wording and the legal reference. The customer accounts for the tax in their own country.
EU private customer
As a rule, Italian VAT. For electronic, telecommunications and broadcasting services, thresholds and the OSS scheme apply.
Non-EU customer
Outside the scope because the territorial condition is not met, with specific wording on the invoice.
In every case
The invoice must be issued and sent through the Sistema di Interscambio (SdI, the Italian e-invoicing exchange system) with the standard recipient code for foreign customers.
What to write on the invoice
The wording is not a formal detail.
- The customer's VAT number with the country prefix, checked on VIES
- Reverse charge wording for B2B services within the EU
- The correct legal reference for transactions outside the scope
- No VAT, no rate, no generic exemption
04 · From abroad
When you buy from abroad
This is the part that surprises people most: buying a service from a foreign supplier creates a VAT obligation for you, even if the invoice you receive shows no tax.
- For purchases of services from EU and non-EU suppliers, the tax is accounted for through the reverse charge.
- The transaction is documented with a supplementary document sent through the SdI, using the required document type codes.
- The VAT is recorded both as output and as input tax: if you are entitled to deduct it in full, the net financial effect is zero.
- If you cannot deduct (flat-rate taxpayers, exempt businesses), the self-assessed VAT becomes a real cost to pay.
- This also applies to small purchases: software subscriptions, online advertising, cloud services, platform fees.
- Intra-EU purchases of goods follow their own rules, with a relevance threshold for some taxpayers.
The typical case is a flat-rate taxpayer who pays a few tens of euros a month for advertising or software to a European supplier. They must supplement the invoice, pay the VAT with an F24 (the Italian tax payment form) by the monthly deadline, and cannot deduct it. The amounts are small, but the obligation is there.
05 · The lists
What has to be reported
Besides the invoice, some transactions must be summarised in periodic returns.
INTRASTAT lists
They summarise intra-EU supplies and purchases of goods and services, monthly or quarterly depending on volumes.
Annual VAT return
Cross-border transactions have dedicated sections and lines. See the VAT return.
Periodic settlements
Reverse charge VAT goes into the VAT settlements for the period.
OSS scheme
For distance sales and digital services to EU private customers above the threshold, it lets you pay the VAT of the various countries with a single return.
Quadro RW
If you hold accounts or financial assets abroad, tax monitoring (the quadro RW, the foreign assets section of the return) is added. It is an obligation separate from VAT.
06 · What goes wrong
The mistakes that keep coming back
Almost all of them come from treating a foreign transaction as if it were domestic, or the other way round.
- Invoicing without VAT an EU customer not registered with VIES: the transaction is domestic and you bear the VAT.
- Not checking the customer's VAT number and not keeping proof of the check.
- Forgetting to supplement invoices for foreign purchases, including small recurring ones.
- Confusing zero-rated and exempt: they are different treatments with different effects on the pro rata.
- Overlooking the exceptions to the place-of-supply rules for services relating to property and transport.
- Not filing INTRASTAT lists when they are due, in the belief that they only concern goods.
If you work with regular foreign clients, it pays to set up the procedure once and properly: check VIES, fix the correct wording, put the deadlines in the calendar. Putting twelve months of invoices right after the event costs far more.
Frequently asked
The questions that keep coming up
I am on the flat-rate scheme. Can I invoice a foreign client?
Yes, with no limit. You must, however, register with VIES for intra-EU transactions and apply the place-of-supply rules like any other VAT-registered business.
Watch the purchases side: on services bought from foreign suppliers you must supplement the invoice and pay the VAT, which you cannot deduct. It is a real cost to budget for.
My foreign client asks me not to charge VAT. Is that right?
It depends on who they are and where they are. For an EU business registered with VIES, the invoice is indeed without VAT, under the reverse charge. For a private individual resident in the EU, Italian VAT normally applies.
The client's request is never enough on its own: what counts is their status, which you can check on VIES, and the nature of the transaction.
I paid for advertising on a foreign platform. Do I need to do anything?
Yes. Buying a service from a foreign supplier means supplementing the invoice, recording it both as output and as input tax and sending the supplementary document.
If you deduct VAT in full, the net financial effect is zero, but the obligation remains. If you cannot deduct, the VAT must be paid and becomes a cost.
Do I need to register for VAT in my client's country?
In the vast majority of cases, no: the reverse charge exists precisely to avoid that, by shifting the obligation to the client.
Registering abroad can become necessary in specific cases, such as services relating to property located abroad or distance sales above the threshold without joining the OSS scheme.
Let's talk
A foreign client changes your obligations, not just the invoice
VIES, cross-border reporting, INTRASTAT, self-billed invoices: the invoice is only the starting point. Bring us your first foreign contract before you issue it.