EU VAT Triangulation: A Practical Guide to Navigating Cross-Border Transactions

EU VAT triangulation allows a middle business (Party B) to avoid VAT registration in the customer’s country by meeting strict criteria, simplifying cross-border compliance among three VAT-registered EU-based trading partners.
Under triangulation, goods move directly from supplier (Party A) to customer (Party C), with Party B invoicing C using reverse charge and legal references, ensuring VAT neutrality if C fully deducts input tax.
The simplification only applies when all three businesses are in different EU countries, VAT-registered, and the intermediary (Party B) isn’t VAT-registered in the shipping or destination country, with proper invoicing and reporting required.
UK businesses can no longer access EU triangulation unless registered in an EU country, enabling VAT efficiency for UK intermediaries handling EU goods flows without needing destination-country VAT registration.