An intra-Community invoice is an invoice between two EU traders that meets the requirements for intra-Community VAT. For trade between traders and businesses in EU countries, there are specific VAT rules. These are the intra-EU VAT rules whereby the exchange of goods or services between EU traders is exempt from VAT.
Intra-Community invoice
Contents of an intra-Community invoice
Intra-Community invoices must contain a series of elements. Broadly speaking, these elements are the same as any other invoice:
- Invoice number.
- Details of the seller and the customer: name or company name and address.
- Description of the goods and services.
- Price per unit.
- Total amount.
However, as this is an intra-Community operation, VAT does not have to be entered for personal income tax purposes.
The Intra-Community VAT number
As this is an intra-Community operation, VAT is not applied, however, the following information must be entered:
- The VAT ID, both of the seller and of the buyer.
The VAT ID is a tax identification code, equivalent to the Spanish ID (NIF). In fact, in Spain the VAT ID coincides with the ID (NIF) but with the addition of the prefix ES.
This code must be requested from the Tax Agency by filing form 036 completing boxes 582 and 584. Once the application has been accepted, the business or professional will be registered in the Register of Intra-Community Operators (ROI).
In order to be able to apply intra-Community VAT, the customer must also be part of the ROI. The seller will be able to check in the VIES whether or not the buyer is registered in the ROI.