VAT on cross-border business establishments

Question

We provide e-learning via a website to private individual customers worldwide. We have an office in New York and use the services of a UK associate company to set up new customer accounts offer customer support and carry out marketing activity. They raise a monthly invoice to us for this. All our key decision makers and IT capability (including content development) are in the US. Our accountants believe that we are liable to pay VAT on our revenues from EU customers and also that the UK company should charge us VAT. Is this correct?

Answer

Dealing firstly with the customer facing revenues VAT is due. There is a mechanism for non-EU companies selling such services to account for VAT: the mini one-stop shop (MOSS) scheme. This effectively means that you pay the...