EU VAT number in Luxembourg: the LU format, VIES checks and invoicing without VAT

LU + 8 digits: what your EU VAT number is

On a European invoice, one small line changes everything: the VAT number. It is how businesses in other Member States recognise you as a taxable person.

According to Guichet.lu, once registered for VAT, the taxable person receives a VAT identification number made of a unique group of 8 digits preceded by the letters “LU”. The European Commission gives the same format for Luxembourg in VIES: LU99999999.

This number is used for intra-community trade. For your dealings with the Luxembourg administration, however, you use your 13-digit national identification number. Registration itself (initial return, turnover estimate, filing frequency) is covered in our guide to VAT in Luxembourg.

A business customer in another EU country: why the invoice can be without VAT

Between businesses (B2B), EU rules move VAT to the customer’s country. For services, Guichet.lu explains that VAT is in principle due where the customer is established. For supplies of goods between taxable persons, the seller benefits from an exemption in the country of dispatch and VAT is charged in the country of acquisition, where the buyer reports it.

In practice, your EUR 2,000 invoice to a business in another Member State does not carry EUR 340 of Luxembourg VAT at 17%: the customer deals with VAT at home. Some services follow other rules (services connected with immovable property, restaurant services, short-term hire of means of transport…), hence “in principle”.

Checking the customer’s number on VIES

VIES is the European Commission’s service that lets people involved in intra-community supplies of goods or services obtain confirmation that a partner’s VAT number is valid. You select the Member State that issued the number, type the number without spaces or dots, and the reply comes back within seconds: VIES — VAT number validation.

• VIES works in real time: the check is run against the national database of the selected country. There is no single EU database of VAT-registered persons.
• VIES confirms whether a number is valid; it cannot find a company’s number from its name. Your customer must give you the number.
• The name and address are only displayed if the Member State concerned allows it.

Keeping proof: the consultation number

In VIES, if you also enter your own VAT number as the requester, the reply contains a unique consultation number. The Commission recommends keeping it in your records: it lets you prove to a tax administration that you checked a given number, at a given time, and got a given reply.

Guichet.lu likewise recommends printing and keeping the results page, which shows the customer’s number and the date of the check. File it with the related invoice.

What to write on the invoice

On top of the invoice requirements in Luxembourg (including your own VAT number), a B2B invoice to an EU customer must show the customer’s valid VAT number. And where the buyer or customer is liable for the VAT, Guichet.lu requires the statement “auto-liquidation” (the reverse charge mechanism).

After the invoice: the recapitulative statement, before the 25th of the following month

In addition to the VAT return, supplies of goods and services made to businesses in other Member States are reported to the AED in recapitulative statements. For each customer they show the country code and VAT number, and the total amount of the transactions in euros.

• Deadline: before the 25th day of the month following the reporting period.
• Filing: electronic only since 1 January 2020, through the eCDF platform.
• Goods: monthly in principle; quarterly is possible if intra-EU supplies did not exceed EUR 50,000 excluding VAT in the quarter or in any of the 4 previous quarters.
• Services: monthly in principle, or quarterly if the taxable person chooses.

Discounts, credit notes or cancellations are reported separately for each customer, in the statement for the period in which they occur.

The checklist before every EU invoice

1. 1
   Ask your customer for their VAT number (VIES cannot look it up by name).
2. 2
   Check it on VIES, entering your own number as well, and keep the results page with the consultation number.
3. 3
   Invoice without VAT if the conditions are met, with the customer’s number and, where applicable, the “auto-liquidation” (reverse charge) statement.
4. 4
   Report the transaction in your VAT return and in the recapitulative statement, before the 25th of the month following the period.

If the number is invalid, do not assume: check it with your customer before issuing the invoice. For special cases (triangular transactions, immovable property, distance sales to consumers), read the relevant Guichet.lu page or seek advice.