As part of the European Commission’s Action Plan on VAT, from 1 January 2020, four VAT ‘quick fixes’ will be introduced in relation to the EU trade of goods. The European Commission has published Draft Explanatory notes relating to these changes.

The quick fixes aim to create a more uniform application of EU VAT rules across the Member States for business to business supplies of goods and will introduce:

• Uniform call-off stock simplification rules
• Uniform rules for the VAT treatment of chain transactions in terms of which party zero-rates the supply
• Mandatory evidence requirements for zero-rating intra-EU supplies of goods
• Mandatory VAT registration number requirements to support the zero-rating of intra-EU supplies of goods.