Export

What it means

Export is a supply of goods from the territory of the European Union to a third country. Where the conditions are met it is exempt from VAT with the right to deduct input tax - a material difference from exemptions without that right.

The condition is not the customer’s billing address but the goods actually leaving the Union. It is evidenced by a customs declaration confirming exit, together with transport documents.

The exemption is not tied to who the customer is: it does not matter whether it is a business or a consumer, or whether it has any tax number - the goods leaving is what counts. On the customs side an export has two steps: the goods are released for export in a customs procedure, and the customs office at the EU border confirms their exit.

How it works in practice

The file keeps the customs declaration, the carrier’s document and the contract or order. Without confirmed exit the exemption is refused and tax is assessed on the invoiced amount.

Where a foreign currency is involved, settlement produces an FX difference. The Incoterms delivery term decides who handles customs and when risk passes - and with it who the exporter is.

A small e-shop sending parcels to Switzerland or the UK usually leaves the customs declaration to the courier acting as customs representative. We therefore ask the courier for exit confirmations for each shipment and a list matching them to invoices; without it the exemption is hard to prove across hundreds of parcels.

What to watch out for

Export is often confused with an intra-EU supply when selling to European countries outside the Union. For services the place of supply governs rather than physical movement, and the treatment differs from goods and from imports.

Without an EORI number the customs office will not accept an export declaration. A company that has so far sold only within the EU often applies for one on the day the goods are already on the loading dock, and the delay means a missed delivery date plus extra storage and transport costs.