The situation
A month’s freight invoice to a business customer in another member state
A road haulier in Poznań carries for a German furniture maker. One month’s invoice covers loads from Poznań to Bielefeld, two runs between the customer’s warehouses inside Germany, and a load from Bielefeld to Basel. The customer has queried the VAT on two of the lines, and the haulier’s finance team wants a note to file with the invoice.
Every line is a transport of goods, but they do not all follow the same reasoning. The customer’s status sets the general rule, an export leg brings in an exemption that depends on documents, and a consumer customer would change everything. The hours go on getting each line right and writing it down so the next invoice is right too.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- Business customers: the customer’s country
- Transport of goods supplied to a taxable person follows the general business-to-business rule and is supplied where the customer is established. For a German business customer every leg is supplied in Germany, including the domestic runs.
- The haulier charges no Polish VAT
- Because the haulier is not established in Germany, the German customer generally accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge. The invoice states that the reverse charge applies and shows both VAT numbers.
- Export legs can be exempt
- Transport of goods directly linked to their export from the EU can be exempt in the member state where it is supplied. For the Basel leg, German law decides the exemption, and the export documents prove the link.
- Consumers follow a different rule
- Intra-Community transport of goods supplied to a non-business customer is supplied where the transport begins. A haulier that also works for private customers needs a separate analysis for those invoices.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Polish haulier invoicing a German business customer for: Poznań to Bielefeld, two domestic runs inside Germany, and Bielefeld to Basel (export to Switzerland). Where is each transport service supplied, who accounts for the VAT, and can the Basel leg be exempt?
You start with
A month’s freight invoice to a business customer in another member state
- 01
Upload the invoice
Add the invoice and the customer’s query. azta reads each line and the VAT shown and refers back to the line it used.
File upload· Pro - 02
Research each leg
Ask where each transport service is supplied and who accounts for the VAT. azta cites the VAT Directive and the Polish and German VAT acts.
Cited research· Free - 03
Read the rules in both languages
Open the cited Polish and German provisions in the reader, in the original language, with their in-force status.
Atlas statute reader - 04
Write the invoice note
Ask for a short note per line that the customer and your auditors can follow. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro You send
A note on the place of supply and VAT treatment of each transport leg
What you get
A note on the place of supply and VAT treatment of each transport leg
Invoice note · draft
October freight invoice to the Bielefeld customer: VAT treatment
All four lines. The customer is a business established in Germany, so each transport service is supplied in Germany. We do not charge Polish VAT. The customer accounts for German VAT under the reverse charge, and the invoice states this and shows both VAT numbers.
Domestic German runs. The same rule applies. That the goods never left Germany does not make these services Polish, and they do not belong in our Polish return as domestic sales.
Bielefeld to Basel. The leg carries goods out of the EU, and the transport can be exempt in Germany where the export is evidenced. We will keep the export documents with our copy of the invoice and send them to the customer. The services taxable in Germany go on our recapitulative statement for the month.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
22 minutes a month
At €75 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 22
- Capacity at your rate
- €1,620
- More freight invoice VAT checks a quarter
- 2.7
- Return on Pro
- 5×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoSources azta searches here
- EUR-Lex · Curia
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- Gesetze im Internet
What stays with you
- Confirming each customer’s business status and VAT number.
- The export documents for each export leg.
- Setting the invoicing rules in your billing system.
Frequently asked questions
- What about loading and handling charged on the same invoice?
- Ask about them on the same facts. azta checks whether they follow the transport or are separate services, with the rules for each.
- What if the customer is outside the EU?
- The answer changes. Ask with the customer’s details and azta researches the rule for that case.
- Can I read the Polish provision in Polish?
- Yes. Citations open the provision in the original language, with its in-force status.
