Germany has ruled on the details needed for the makings of a VAT invoice that is compliant for an exempt intra-community supply. The particular case in question dealt with the supply of cars in Austria and they were supplied on a VAT zero rating as an intra-community supply between two VAT registered businesses. The issue was that the invoice didn’t indicate the VAT liability. A supporting document also gave details of the cars and that the transaction was an intra-community supply exempt from EU VAT.
The German tax court ruled that the second document can be included in the invoice as it provided for the zero-rating of the transaction.
The requirements for valid EU VAT invoices are contained in the first EU VAT Directive on invoices.
