What is VIES and how it works

With the introduction of the single market on 1 January 1993 , fiscal customs based controls at internal frontiers were abolished and a new VAT control system was put in place for intra-Community trade. The most significant benefit was the reduction of the administrative burden on companies; with the elimination of some 60 million customs documents per annum.

Under the new VAT system intra-Community supplies of goods are exempt from VAT in the Member State of despatch when they are made to a taxable person in another Member State who will account for the VAT on arrival. Therefore any taxable person making such supplies must be able to check quickly and easily that their customers in another Member State are taxable persons and do hold a valid VAT identification number. For that purpose, inter alia, each tax administration maintains an electronic database containing the VAT registration data of its traders. Such information includes the VAT identification number, the trader's name, the trader's address.

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